Old Magicks
by fei.fie.fo.fum
Summary: Beast Boy has gifts he isn't aware of. The Titans are about to find this to be all too true when strange encounter takes place. And Raven just might learn that paying attention to only one side of her lineage could really knock her for a loop. AU BBmod.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: I don't own squat, so if you sue me, all you'll be doing is sending a poor boy to his death. Now, do you really want that on your conscience?

AN: 5/08/2007 revision over spotty stuff here, not much to see. Oh, I don't own TT, mores the pity.

Prologue: Uneasy Shops  
Started: 2/22/2007  
Finished: 2/22/2007

He couldn't help but feel slightly claustrophobic in this concrete jungle, he was an amalgamation of animals after all and having so many humans around him set him on edge. Transforming into large cats didn't help the equation much since it only brought those loner instincts up. So, he tried to prowl the streets often and hopefully the lone hunter instincts that could become a part of his DNA at whim would get used to it. Hey, it was worth a shot.

Beast Boy's mind, however, was quite a distance away. Something was not right with him. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt distinctly uneasy. The feeling had been there ever since the Beast incident and had only slowly grown over time. Now after the whole Brotherhood of Evil (it was a stupid name, really. It was short and to the point, true, but there was no imagination.) gig he had nothing to focus on. Sure the whole chameleon-robot-thing had been interesting, but things have calmed down quite a bit now and BB had returned to prowling familiar-unfamiliar streets. And he had had them memorized and everything too, troublesome.

Muttering to himself; he absently noted where he was and just as he was going to move on, he stopped and stared at the building beside him.

There was a wall that acted as a fence and a gap in the thing acted as the entrance. It was a funny grey color that was almost but not quite blue. Behind the wall he saw a distinctly Asian building, sloped roofs with dragon motif gargoyles guarding the corners. The tiled roof firmly established 'old fashioned' and the windows' lattice work only reinforced that. Even with all that, it was still rather plain, the colors were humble and didn't do much to catch the eye. A sign hung next to the door and read, from top to bottom, 'Keltaeks Knick Knacks and Other Krum'.

The building itself did not send the changeling's danger sense off and he had some incredibly reliable instincts, though a certain dark sorceress would beg to differ. No, the building was fine; it was where the building was that rocked his mind. Running to see the building next to the KKKOK he confirmed his suspicions. It was another office building, the same one that he remembered oh so well. It wasn't possible, just impossible. Before the BoE thing, the office building formed an alley that barely allowed a car easy passage with the building on the _other_ side of the KKKOK. How, when did this happen?

Blinking, the shape-shifter reached out to touch the wall that acted as a fence. Maybe he was hallucinating. When he made contact with the wall he could have sworn he heard a feminine 'oh!' and suddenly he was no longer in control of his legs. They started walking him toward the entrance to the strange edifice that shouldn't be and he struggled futilely to escape. No luck, his feet insisted upon entering the strange place. Desperate, he took out his communicator, prayed to whatever deity smiled upon him, and chucked outside of the wall. Hopefully, his friends would notice his absence and come looking for him. He didn't know if the people inside the Keltaeks had any jamming equipment and if they can't find his com, they can't do anything about it.

-I-

Serra Markov was walking home as she warily cast her gaze about, hoping beyond hope to avoid a certain green Titan. It wasn't that she didn't like him or anything but it was awkward. He insisted upon the fact that he knew her, and Serra knew she didn't know him. He was funny, pleasant company and famous but everything inside of her screamed for her to avoid him like the plague. So it was just her luck to find gazing at a weird edifice that should not be.

She didn't know what prompted her to declare the building out of place. Sure it was an interesting shop sitting between an office building and another equally unremarkable structure, but it wasn't that out of place. It just didn't belong. She knew this with a certainty that rung with such truth she couldn't even begin to scrounge up the will to even think on the contrary. She just knew.

Then something even stranger happened. The green elf touched the wall surrounding the building-that-really-had-no-place-being-there-and-shouldn't-be-there (take your pick) and was suddenly doing some very funky leg work. Cocking a blonde brow, her blue gaze watched as the emerald teen's legs dragged him in to the storefront. She noticed that he had dropped off something round and circular before being marched through the gate. After a moment's debate she cursed her curiosity and went to pick up the yellow disk.

It had a short black antenna with a black face on one side with a solid white T stamped in the darkness. Yellow bordered the black and the back of the thing was yellow as well. A messily scrawled 'Beast Boy' proclaimed its owner's name in green, clashing brazenly against the yellow backdrop of the device. After another moment's debate, she flipped open the communicator and contacted the Titans. Where had her fair judgment gone? Vacation?

After a moment of static, an all too familiar visage took center stage on the small screen. The spiky mass of disordered black hair that had been gelled to hell and back was unmistakable. A sharp mask concealing the eyes and eyebrows kept identities neatly tucked away. A drawn mouth that was far too use to frowning kept its place under a no nonsense nose. The mouth was improving though; it had been working on smiles and easy grins lately. He still dressed like a Christmas tree and traffic light from an experiment gone wrong, though.

She didn't know how it was possible, but she knew that the kid blinked at her, doing a double take. If he called her Ter-

"Terra, so Beast Boy was right," declared the Titans' leader grimly, a disapproving frown tugging his lips down. And he had been improving too.

Sighing in exasperation, the blond clucked disapprovingly.

"I'm not Terra," replied the blond as she felt her brow knotting in distaste. "You people really need to get that through your heads. Anyway this is about your green bean friend."

The mask flexed, imitating a cocked brow. What the heck was that thing made of?

"Something weird happened. It looked like something took over his legs and dragged him into this creepy building."

Robin stared at her from the screen, brow still cocked with his face clearly radiating disbelief. Growling at the distrust she could read from the other teen, Serra snapped.

"Fine, don't believe me then. But if you and your friends finally take the time to look for your friend, you'll start at Keltaeks Knick Knacks and Other Krums," and with a huff the blond teen threw the communicator away from her and headed home. Muttering to herself she decided she had been too nice to that little prick. Probably should have screamed at him.

Robin, meanwhile, was looking into this Keltaeks and found nothing in the city plans. Still, he worried. After all, an unauthorized individual had used a communicator. Summoning the city map to the screen, he activated the tracking network in BB's communicator. Finding it stationary, he was bewildered. So the _Terra_ look alike hadn't taken the com unit. But that meant that it wasn't on a certain green elf either. There were no buildings that should interest Beast Boy there. Frowning, Robin grew concerned when the map indicated that there was no Keltaeks, even with the up to date maps. The shape shifter's communicator bleeped softly in blue at the edge of an alley. Maybe the grass stain was pulling a prank and roped in the Terra look alike. Yeah, that must be it.

30 minutes later…

Robin started at the screen, that damnable blue light still stationary. Okay, so Beast Boy learned how to be patient. He's still not fooling Robin into calling the cavalry.

10 minutes later still…

But Beast Boy never pulled a prank that could actually get in the way of roping a criminal before…

15 minutes later still…

"Titans, trouble!"

Author's Note: Yes, this still is my first Teen Titans fic. Be gentle.


	2. Chapter 1

Author's note: Here it is, chapter 1. sweet. revised 5/12/2007

Began: 2/22/2007

Finished: 2/24/2007

**Chapter the First: Encounter**

Raven had been meditating when she felt Robin's emotions explode franticly. Sighing to herself she made her way out of her dark room, her eyes easily adjusting to the bright halls. Cyborg tried to be considerate, using softer lights in her hall, but it was rather pointless. Demon physiology had to have some perks, even if she was only half demon. She turned to the common room just as she heard the softened "Titans, trouble!" coming from their fearless leader. Making her way to Robin, she grumbled to herself, wondering at what could possibly be the problem. The alarm hadn't gone off, so what was going on?

Calmly entering the Common Room (also known as the Living Quarters, Rec Room, kitchen, game station, Ops center, and the room with the giant screen though Beast Boy just called it the living room, no caps) Raven noticed at a glance that they were lacking in green (Robin's tights did not count). Cocking her head to the side she looked to their pacing leader, silently inquiring on the situation.

Robin hated doing this: admitting to a mistake. It meant he failed and he did not want to fail, did not want to disappoint. It had taken time for him to accept that he had made a mistake with the whole Red X fiasco, not to mention the Beast incident, now he pulls another one like this? Oh man, if his team didn't hate him before, they were going to now!

"We- have a problem." Okay, stalling isn't going to do much for his situation. He tried to calm himself with deep breaths, but man he hated failing his team. And it was much worse since this was the third time he'd fail Beast Boy.

Cyborg knew the kid was tense: his body language easily declared that fact to him and anyone who could link up to the internet and find various interesting files therein about body language (and failing that, being sociable helps). He'd worried about the pressures of leadership falling upon the shoulders of someone like Robin, the kid was so tightly wound he'd probably make it to a neighboring galaxy if he caved. At the least he'll reach another star, maybe Tameran. He'd tried to keep bird boy from worrying too much, but he stressed on everything. With some people, there's just no helping them.

Starfire looked on curiously. Friend Robin was most anxious. She just hoped she'd be able to help him with whatever it was.

Raven was just impatient to know what was wrong with the fearless leader. Tch, for a fearless leader, he sure stressed out about some of the most insignificant of things. He probably blew something completely out of the water.

"Beast Boy has been taken against his will. He dropped his communicator and a passing civilian contacted me. She described how Beast Boy's legs seemed to move against his will to bring him into an odd establishment. She described it as creepy. That conversation was an hour ago." After further explaining the situation, he stopped. Now, he awaited their judgment.

"The loss of motor control was probably from a spell and failing that, mind control," Raven bit out after a pause. A twitch pulled at the left of her temple. "We're dealing with quite a powerhouse."

Raven's mind raced. She cursed the Boy Blunder for his idiocy; he lived with a freakin' sorceress! Taking time to calm herself, she dismissed the urge to berate Robin. There will be a time and a place for that kind of dressing down. Right now was the time to deal with an enchanter. From the sound of it, this person was quite powerful. Overpowering another's will was difficult; she would need some major firepower. Silently she turned and left to make preparations. There was no time to hesitate, who knows what they wanted with the changeling?

Starfire looked after Raven worriedly. She wasn't sure how exactly she could comfort the reclusive girl. She was just too distant for the Tameranean princess to get a proper read on at times. Robin she knew would be kicking himself over this. She went to her leader and not-so-secret-interest and tried to occupy his mind with plans for the attempted rescue. For now, he needed to be doing something to try to resolve the problem that he believed was his fault. As fond as she was of the teen, his mind worked in ways that were oft times a little too predictable.

Cyborg worked in a rather dazed way, collecting equipment here and there. He had quite a few nifty new things he'd developed that he had wanted to deploy. He just didn't plan on using them in such a serious situation. Who would want to kidnap Beast Boy? The green sprout never did anything too offensive to any major villain (excepting Adonis, ruining the Brotherhood of Evil's plan, etc.). Were they trying to get to the rest of the team? If they were, they did a good job of it. No one messed with one of Cyborg's and gets away scotch free. And if they mess with Beast Boy, that goes double. Sure, the kid was a pest at times but he reminded the half-robot and the rest of the team what they fought to protect.

Robin was still stressing about the dearth of information about Keltaeks. There were no floor plans; it wasn't even on the map. Starfire was trying to help him, and though he was grateful for her intentions, he still blamed himself. He couldn't help it. He'd failed so spectacularly with regards to Beast Boy it was just- just beyond words. First there was Red X, then the Beast incident and now, this. He should have known BB better; he should have remembered how the changeling operated. How could he possibly be a sufficient leader if he knew his team so poorly?

The trip to the garage was silent. Cyborg and Robin made preparations without even glancing at each other. There wasn't anything Cyborg could tell Robin that Star hadn't already said. Starfire and Raven had opted to fly, and the alien was slightly awed by the speed that the empath put on. Soon, the redhead heard the distinct roar of Robin's R-cycle and the soft purr of the T-car behind her.

-I-

When they reached the alley where Beast Boy's com unit was, that was all they found, an alley. Raven was no where to be seen. The metallic teen looked about him in confusion. Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of shop here? Utilizing the various scanners built into him, he tried to divine the situation. Still: nothing.

Robin walked into the alley itself and tried to see if there was more to learn from a different perspective. It was magic, it had to be magic. They'd encountered that before. It was a strange phenomenon but it had to follow some set of rules. It had to. Everything followed a set of rules. Pacing, he tried to dredge up every detail from his past encounters with magic, trying desperately to peg a working solution.

Starfire looked about anxiously. Science was her forte and in all her dabbling at magic with Raven, she never really encountered anything like this. Magic made sense to the sorceress, but it did more to confuse than clarify things for the alien redhead. She looked about hoping beyond hope to find some sign of Raven or Beast Boy or the strangely reported edifice. What she found instead was a discarded Titans com unit.

Picking it up, Starfire turned to report her find to her friends and stopped at the sight before her.

There it was, just as reported; the strange grey wall, the oriental styled building. It was all there. Even the sign read, going down, Keltaek's Knick Knacks and Other Krum.

"Friends, come quickly!"

Cyborg turned to the usually perky girl, a question in his gaze. Spotting the object in her hands, he immediately knew what it was. He'd know Beast Boy's com from everyone else's, that sprout rubs off on anything that comes into contact with him. He always leaves a mark of some sort that just screams 'Beast Boy was here!' at the top of its lungs. It wasn't ominously dirty or anything, just slightly dinged, slightly scratched, more- alive, or at least had the trappings of life about it. There was a certain something to that kid's touch and Cyborg has never been able to put his finger on it.

"You found his com unit, good work Star," exclaimed the masked teen as he made his way out of the alley. He cocked his eyebrow at the strange look that the pretty alien was giving him. Looking behind him, and then looking back at her, Robin found no reason for that strange look on her face. "Uh, Star?"

He got no further than that as Starfire shoved the unit into his hands.

"Please take another examination of the alley," the alien declared. There was a strange quality to her voice and she was still looking at the alley as if there was something to see. Turning around again skeptically, he found that there was indeed something to see.

Cyborg eyed his friends uncertainly as Robin blinked, shook his head, then squinted as if he couldn't quite grasp what his eyes were showing him. Starfire just continued to stare.

"O-kay, what're the two of you gawking at?"

Silently, Robin handed the metal man the communicator. He looked up and promptly dropped the device.

At first, both his eyes saw the building with the fence and all. When he dropped the com though, his mechanical eye stopped registering the image that his organic eye was reporting to his brain (or the half of it that was still there). This proved rather nauseating as his brain desperately tried to sort out what his eyes were reporting. This wasn't possible; a building of that size couldn't possibly fit in there. He looked across the street and found that, yep, he was still occupying the same space. Things seemed slightly elongated to his human eye, but the mechanical eye reported no such thing. Feeling a migraine coming on with such contrary views occupying his brain, he decided to ponder the matter some other time as he picked up BB's communicator. Man that sprout gets into more trouble than he's worth, the metallic man grumbled.

-II-

Raven was marching through the strange shop, or that was what those two at the front said it was. They had quite chirpily informed her that, yes, Beast Boy was still here. She had detected no deception from them (she didn't sense much of anything from them, in fact) and they didn't try to stop her when she said she was going to him. They did say something about how she shouldn't go into the back. She ignored them and now she was practically navigating a maze in these storage rooms.

She cursed under her breath at the things she found here and her inability to phase through walls really sucked. Her soul self couldn't get far either, something here made her extremely anxious to return to her body when she was in her astral form. Finding another door, she turned to check if Beast Boy was there. However, a few feet from the portal, a sudden whirlwind of paper, or at the least, what looked liked paper, condensed into a white wolf like creature. The thing was pure white, and its overall aura was menacing. Whatever it was, it was not to be trifled with, especially since it came up to her just below her chest on its feet.

"You may not pass," growled the paper wolf.

"Get out of my way, I'm not in the mood for this," hissed the half demon, her eyes glowing umbra.

"You may not pass, Lady Raven," stated the wolf again. "That which you seek is not beyond this portal."

"I'll check for myself, but thanks for the heads up," bit out the sorceress as jet missiles fled her fingers to tear white pulp. It did no such thing as a white wall met it instead, paper cancelling the attack.

The wolf growled in warning.

"I will take into account your distress and will leave you unharmed if you turn back now," grit out the wolf, hackles raised. "Another attack and-"

Black waves of energy rose from the floor and rushed the door keeper but white waves appeared to meet the onslaught.

"So be it," declared the warden and the battle was joined. White papers rushed to cut low the dark enchantress but were met with shades that ended their flight. Flying objects some encased in shadow, others not, flew at the wolf but the paper beast was nimble on its paws, and when surrounded, it broke apart only to regenerate in another area. Soon, Raven had exhausted her supply of missiles and was forced to attack with pure cobalt energy. The wolf only grew trickier, cutting her from afar with razor sharp paper and lunging at her with a ferocity that was unnerving.

Raven glared at the paper guardian, her frustration fueling her magic. It was rather difficult reining in that dark destructive power, but luckily she was aiming to destroy anyway. Nothing was going to keep her from Beast Boy. That imp was going to pay for making her worry like this.

Ugh, that damn thing was doing that disintegrate reintegrate thing again. She cursed; this teleportation thing was really annoying. Then she spotted something, a slip of paper that flitted about from where the wolf was to another location. As she watched, paper came forth to reconstruct the wolf's body around the slip. A grim smile graced her lips.

With renewed vigor, Raven went on the offensive, giving no quarter as her black mana tore into the canine. It once again disintegrated, trying desperately to escape the onslaught of pissed-off-female. However, as the slip of paper tried to move to a new location to recuperate, it was encased in a pitch aura. It tried desperately to free itself, but was well and truly trapped. Surrendering, the paper folded into itself and became an origami lupine.

"You've bested me," stated the wolf, its voice neutral. After a pause, it continued. "You may make one request of me that I am bound to grant."

Raven stared contemplatively at the shadow encapsulated wolf. Should she trust it? It was her enemy… but it didn't attack her, technically, she was the one that provoked the engagement. Gah, her emotions had been wrecking havoc with her actions. This _was_ a magical construct; the thing had to obey the laws of magic.

"Very well, lead me to Beast Boy," commanded the dark empath. Turning the lupine pointed with its nose down the hall, away from the portal it had guarded.

"That way."

-III-

The three remaining Titans made their way about the store. It wasn't that big but the fence encased a rather sizeable floor space. There was a patio like set up from the back, with a sliding door. They could see nothing through the strangely opaque orifice. Nothing could be seen through the lattice covered windows either. After a while of trying to find another entrance to the shop they paused, stumped.

Cyborg, with BB's com in hand, tried to scan the structure but found no real openings. His mechanical eye could only get a reading with the thing touching him, the half-android had quickly learned. His sonic cannon had failed to punch a hole through the wall, window and door. Nothing worked, not Star's emerald bolts or Robin's plastique (don't ask him about the thing and he will tell you no lies).

"Hello, is there something you three need?"

The three of them turned toward the source of the voice, taking a small leap back and two of them landed ready to fight with the war princess in the air, hands encased in green energy and eyes aglow. They stared at the seemingly harmless girl before them. Light brown hair framed a delicate face. A simple dress the color of a ripe apple kept her modesty. A small smile touched her lips. However, her eyes, the color of murky pond water was completely vacant.

"My, so jumpy," declared the same voice again, coming from behind them, _again_. They turned to see another girl, long silver hair that reached her knees in a ponytail stood there, eyes a pale, empty blue and her dress a simple cut like her companion's but colored a pale blue that matched her eyes. "Perhaps you'd like some tea?"

"Where's Raven and Beast Boy?" demanded Robin, his grip on the bo staff tightening.

Red only blinked at them.

"Are you sure you wouldn't consider tea?"

Cyborg knew Robin's patience was down to its last thread at this point. With two of his teammates in possible danger, Robin was not a happy camper. Cyborg knew he should probably keep things from exploding and set about doing so.

"Uh…" now if he knew what to say, maybe this would have gone better. "Who are you?" well that's a start the metal teen decided.

"We're the store clerks." The voices answered simultaneously making an odd echo effect.

"And your friends are safe, for the most part." Red declared this with that vacant smile of hers.

"The grim one engaged one of the Sentinel Hounds, though," continued Blue.

"The green one is with our masters." Red again.

"But worry not."

"He is safe."

"And will remain so."

"So would you reconsider tea?"

Robin wasn't sure what he was supposed to make of this. It was far too strange. What had Beast Boy gotten himself into this time, bemoaned the young leader. He looked to what was left of his team, both staring at him intently.

"Um, sure." That could've come out much more confident, Robin decided.

-IV-

"Someone's causing a ruckus out there. Emrys, check it out."

"But the spell-"

"Only needs mana," snapped the first. "Go!"

Sighing, the second got up to investigate the noise. How troublesome; women were so impossible to work with.

-V-

Raven marched forth, following the origami wolf's direction. Soon she could see another door before her. She was about to speed up when her guide called her attention.

"A moment of your time," her escort asked. Cocking a brow, she turned her attention toward the white wolf. "I advise that you turn back. The working behind that door is rather delicate."

"That is where Beast Boy is, that is where I'm going," replied the sorceress, stubborn to a fault. The wolf shook its head, it had warned her.

About to make her way to the door, it suddenly opened and out slipped a scruffy looking man. He was a sandy brunette that had more grey in his hair than it did brown. Scraggly hair covered his chin and a resigned expression sat on his face. His glasses drooped despairingly on his hooked nose. He looked tired. The rumpled looking brown robe didn't help matters. From the open door she felt for a moment's worth a large power, an insurmountable wave that near physically pushed against her and then the door closed and the power was no more.

"Can I help you?"

Raven glared at him. Something didn't add up in her head. She couldn't put a finger on it, but something didn't seem right. She ignored it.

"Where, is, Beast Boy!" demanded the half demon. She was going to see him and no scruffy nerd was going to stop her.

"He's in the room behind me, actually," answered the man absently, scratching his chin. "But you shouldn't go in there, powerful working going on. He'll be with you in a bit."

"No," intoned the sorceress, "now!"

The man blinked at her, as if he couldn't quite understand what was coming out of the empath's mouth.

"That can't be done," he replied slowly. Frowning, he continued. "Perhaps you could wait in front and have some herbal tea with your friends?"

The shadows deepened behind Raven and she began to tower over the slightly bewildered man.

"I think not."

-VI-

The rest of the Titans were having tea with the two clerks, Red and Blue, who introduced themselves as Cora and Ceres. Robin had been inquiring about their employers; trying to ferret any useful information out of them. They answered without hesitation and didn't talk in circles. What they learned was interesting. Keltaek and Emrys were adepts, magic users who wielded great power. Apparently, Keltaek, although an adept, was inept when it came to magic that required a 'soft touch'. Emrys, a master of the more subtle side of the craft, took her on as an apprentice. However, they couldn't determine their motives. They didn't seem to have any motive for abducting Beast Boy.

Suddenly, tea was interrupted by a caped body being tackled through the wall. The cape was of a familiar cut and an all too familiar shade of blue. Atop of her was a griffin, which was quickly flicked off with a touch of black energy. With an inarticulate roar that never left her lips, the young sorceress charged back into the fray.

The three other Titans looked at each other, stood and Robin's mouth was opened, a household phrase at the tip of his tongue.

"Titans-"

"Hmm, the tea party's kinda ruined," commented Cora. She turned to her bluer counterpart. "Maybe they should talk to Emmy, ne?"

"Go!"

"Not going to happen," Ceres replied. Red and Blue sighed, a happy sounding sigh. "It was nice having friends."

Star took off, eyes ablaze and emerald fire flying from her fingers to strike various creatures of myth. Imps, goblins, gremlins; the list went on as did the numbers. Birdarangs flew, striking various opponents. A collapsible steel quarterstaff swept about, clearing nameless creatures aside as the Boy Wonder tried to reach Raven to determine the situation. A human machine hybrid's sonic cannon blazed forth, sound waves stunning many a foe.

As the battle moved back and forth, left and right, and all about, Ceres and Cora replaced the tea and went about the storefront, catching various invaluable artifacts that were knocked down by stray fire. They only paid attention to certain antiquities; others were ignored and allowed to break as they pleased. It all looked rather strange and random but to those with an eye for magic it wasn't strange at all. However, a certain vase did break.

"Ooh," declared Cora.

"Kel's not going to like that," finished Ceres resigned.

Emrys wondered at how his confrontation with the sorceress could have deteriorated to this so quickly. An all out brawl inside the shop- Kel was going to have his head. He had only wanted to scare her off, summoning creatures into life; he never expected her to put up such a fierce resistance. Now her friends have joined the battle and life was chaos. The black caped one was too potent with a quarterstaff for a child his age, and the tall redhead was wielding a magic most strange. The metal man was strange as well, his body hummed and fairly vibrated as it repulsed numerous creatures from his person, must be one of those new fangled contraptions he heard so much about. Hmmm, where was the sorceress…?

-VII-

The white wolf watched as the dark mage made her way toward the door again. The girl was a stubborn little spitfire and had slipped from the fray as quickly and clandestinely as possible, leaving her friends to take care of the creatures from legend. She was sure they could handle the situation without her. Suddenly, it snowed paper, and an all too familiar wolf made its appearance. Pale hands were encased in black, and a snarl made its way onto the sorceress' face.

"Such aggression," commented the lupine. "Fear not, I am not here to do battle with you again. I only ask that you think twice before going in there."

Raven glared at it, her eyes black with power. The paper creature sighed and stepped aside.

With that out of the way, the empath telekinetically opened the door and marched through. A wave of potent magic slammed into her, knocking her from her equilibrium. She had never encountered magic at this level before. Trigon's might was comparable (he had been weakened, what with destroying the world and all), but this was coming from a human source, a human endeavor at that level was practically unheard of.

Getting over her shock, she tried to scope the situation. What she saw was not too pleasing to her eye. Some girl with mismatched eyes, one hazel with a touch of green and the other grey, was sitting in a circle within another diagram on the floor. The diagram appeared to be a magical field, circular in shape with eldritch runes about it, power fairly humming from each arcane symbol. The girl's circle sat to one side of the diagram, in the center was Beast Boy, laid prone with his face free of everything. There was no sign of pain but there was also no sign of life either. It was vacant.

The honey haired girl breathed a sigh of relief, her simple but strange attire going limp with it.

"Hmm, I've more than enough to finish my own seals," she commented cheerily. Blinking, she turned to the door. "You're- not Emrys."

The diagram started to shift, the mystic energies shifting Beast Boy into the air softly as the runes followed him. Slowly they massed about the green teen, taking substance as they congealed about him. Raven had no idea what was going on, but she didn't like it.

Rushing forth, the sorceress tapped into the dark powers that she commanded, calling them to her hands. Floating up above Beast Boy for an instant, a flash of fear flitted through her eyes and a silent plea to whatever would hear her that she wasn't too late. Then she firmly shoved her pitch hands at the spell that wove about the other teen, hoping beyond hope that she could rend the thing before its grip on the boy became any firmer. Distantly, she heard the girl in the room demand to know what in blazes she thought she was doing. Raven ignored her as she tore into the spell viciously. A frown was working its way onto Beast Boy's face, but Raven knew the discomfort would only be momentary. As she continued to destroy the fabric of magic binding the boy, his distress grew. There was no time to hesitate though, and dark energy coursed from her being, flinging her cloak wildly behind her, to chase away the remnants of the spell upon him. A determined look on Raven's face urged her powers on. Finally Beast Boy was free of the spell. He opened his eyes for but a second, staring unseeingly.

Then, a scream of pain unimaginable tore its way from his throat.

**End Chappy**

Author's Note: Hope this was interesting enough.


	3. Chapter 2

Author's Note: (**I speak! And the faithful listen! bwahaha**- sorry, we are having technical difficulties at the moment, please stand by. a brutal beating is heard, then, silence c'mon, give him the meds, give him the meds! there we go...) Anyways, I finally noticed the fact that I haven't disclaimed anything, so here it is: I. Don't. Own. Jack. There, nice and concise. Besides, if I did own the Teen Titans (and whatever else you might recognize, which, by the by, I don't own either wow, my life sucks), I wouldn't be here. Instead, I'd be rolling around in dough, the type of the green persuasion.

Anywho, I'd like to say, thanks a bunch for reviewing! I'd also appreciate criticism, and flames would be nice. Never had a flame so far, but I'm sure that's on the way. Now, onto chapter two.

Began: 2/24/2007 Finished: 2/27/2007 Revision: 5/17/2007

**Chapter the Second: Worrying, a Meddlesome Activity that gets Nothing Done**

Raven stared incomprehensibly at Beast Boy as his pain attacked her emphatic nerve endings. For but a moment she stood there, not quite registering the pain and only faintly aware of the fact that she should be keeled over in agony. Then, the moment was passed and she rushed forth, toward the source of her pain and tried to sooth the green elf's agony with her own scream of pain locked at the back of her throat. The boy continued to scream as two ephemeral forms appeared, occupying the same space as the boy writhed with agony written in every one of their nonexistent lines.

Baffled at the odd turn of events, Raven tried to sooth three people (she assumed they were people, or at the least, one person and two creatures) at once. Fairly radiating calming vibes, three faces turned toward her seeking their center in her. Beast Boy's eyes were glazed over in pain when they weren't screwed shut. He clung tightly to the sorceress' torso, his face smashed desperately into her stomach as if he were trying to fuse into her.

Her attention firmly planted on BB, Raven did not see the other girl come up beside the pair as one tried to take the other's pain away. Her eyes distant as she studiously detached herself, the other sorceress touched an emerald forehead with an open palm as she mouthed two words. No sound left her lips to the ears of the other two present (they weren't really paying attention though) but everything present fairly hummed with power at the silent syllables.

Beast Boy returned to the blissful land of nod as the brown haired sorceress' will was bent upon him, her mind half occupied with sustaining her spell. A certain purple headed teen was practically hysterical as her senses told her that whatever made Beast Boy Beast Boy was suddenly being muted and she turned to the other girl present, practically on the verge of ripping her head off for information. However, before the teen could even think about spitting the words on the tip of her tongue at the other girl, the grey/hazel-eyed girl had already turned toward the door, her attention still riveted by something that could not be seen in the room, yelling at someone.

"Emrys, get your sorry sorcerer arse in here!" It was not an order to be ignored if the tone of the voice used was any indicator.

Raven just about blew a gasket at the unceremonious way she had been dismissed. She returned her attention back to Beast Boy to find that the after-images about him were still there. One distinctly reminded her of the Beast, its hulking form was difficult to forget but over laid with a cloak, the other, the other looked to be some breed of dragon. What had the sprout gotten himself into?

-I-

The sorry sorcerer whose arse had been rung for turned his attention from the melee that was still ensuing out front to the door quite a ways back. There were so many holes to patch up in this pocket dimension that it wasn't even funny. Sighing in exasperation he turned to look at the damage wrought by a certain half demon. That girl was pluckier than convention would deem was healthy. Grumbling about girls taking business into their own hands too often nowadays (what had the world come to?), he made his way to the room designated for large workings, going through the convenient holes that created a quick path to his destination courtesy of a certain dark princess.

The other Titans redoubled their efforts, straining to cut a path through the mass of legends. Luckily for them, without Emrys present, the army didn't regenerate as they were felled, which, for the most part, made things that much easier. Attacking with abandon, the Titans (three of them anyway) made their way after Emrys as they ignored Red and Blue (Cora and Ceres) who were desperately trying to glue the pieces of a very delicate looking ceramic urn back together again. A white wolf with an over long tail gazed at the scene apathetically. With a careless flick of its tail, it casually dismissed a portion of the creatures that the three teens were contending with helping subtly to clear their path.

Cyborg looked at the sword in Robin's hands warily. Sure, it made the going easier, he'd pulled out his chainsaw himself, but it was scary what that boy was packing. Where did the kid put that thing?

An alien war princess, an uptight in tights and a man that was over seventy-five percent metal by-products made their way after the half vacant sorcerer. Picking their way after the man through the wrecked walls wasn't easy going, but being who they were, they persisted and walked into a very peculiar scene.

Three conscious individuals were having a conversation. Well, two of them were talking while the third was trying to cut in as she held a certain green-hued individual. The other two, both seemed to be distracted by something or other, were speaking in incomplete sentences and somehow understanding the messages conveyed.

"We could redesign the whole spell, you still have-" Emrys began

"No, I don't have enough mana, at least I won't have enough for ton-" interrupted the brown haired girl.

"Excu-" fumed a pissed a pissed off demon but was rudely cut off (she might as well have been a full demon by the look in her eye).

"But I though that was-"

"No, I redid my arithmancy, its tonight. I forgot to carry the-"

"Lis-"

"Hmm, well I'm not topped off, but if we both-"

"Not enough, we'll need a third-"

"Qui-"

"Maybe we could unravel a working or two and use the-"

"The ones with enough are too important and the rest combined don't have eno-"

Finally the blue caped dark enchantress had had enough. Taking a deep breath she let loose a scream.

"QUIET!!"

The formerly conversing pair stopped and blinked. They turned to her silently and stared, seemingly surprised that she was still present. They blinked again.

"What is going on?" demanded the dark wielding sorceress, fuming with her arms still supporting the unconscious changeling.

"You ask now?" asked Emrys. The silver frames perched on his nose were absently pushed up.

"A little late, don't you think?" demanded an irate girl, her faded brown robe mussed and bothered. "You've done enough I should think."

"Now, let's not be hasty," cautioned Emrys. "Haste is what brought about this mishap. If things had been properly explained, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Fine," snapped the brown clothed sorceress. "Make it quick."

Sighing in exasperation, the sorcerer turned toward the Titans, or at least the sorceress of the Titans. The other sorceress present turned her attention back toward the green one in a certain introvert's arms, her attention fully bent upon his person as she pulled up her legs to float in midair Indian-style.

"Well, where to begin?" trailed off Emrys, absently scratching the scruff on his chin. "The beginning, of course, but where exactly is the proper place for this tale-"

"Today," growled Keltaek, her mismatched eyes flashing her displeasure.

"That will do," nodded the wizard. "Well, today a strange being walked before our store, a green personage that summoned our store here. You see, we settled our store here in a bit of a pocket dimension, very neat magic, if I do say so myself. Let me tell you, setting those things up is always tricky, always. The setup-"

"Emrys," snapped Kel again. "I swear I will unman you if you don't get on with the proper tale and leave off pocket dimensions!"

"Right, right," the man muttered as he shook himself lightly. Clearing his throat, he began again. "Anyhow, your green friend here touched our barrier and for an instant Kel saw the self cast spell that was placed upon his person. That was very neat too. Some of the things that working performed was absolutely-"

"EM!" roared Kel.

"Anyways, we saw the thing and how it has been evolving and breaking down at equal turns. The spell, which was written onto his/her/their (damnable political correctness) soul(s) was(ere) expanding and soon it would have been too much for the mortal shell to contain. So we offered him a momentary solution to the problem and she accepted."

"Wait," demanded Robin. "She?"

Four teens stared at the sorcerer baffled and the sorcerer stared back, equally baffled.

"The changeling has three souls in one body," answered the wizard, slowly. "A three-in-one. You didn't know?"

Four teens continued to look at him blankly. Sighing, he continued.

"Okay, just trust me on this, he has three souls and one of them is female.

"So, we began trying to put a leash onto the spell that kept him alive without doing anything that might kill him, since the thing was doing both in equal amounts, killing him and keeping him alive. However, we were to learn that his spell was one tricky customer. In the presence of magic, it reacted in a manner we did not foresee, most troubling that bit (we are professionals). It began assimilating the magic around it and compounding the problem exponentially. His soul would have parted from its vessel sooner rather than later as it continued to grow. Luckily, Kel, being Kel, suspended the actions of the tri-soul with a few well placed Wyrds of Power.

"It took us a half an hour to come up with a workable ward and another good half hour's work to graft the dang thing around his spell. Then you lot came in and wrecked the show." He scratched his scruff again absently as his nose twitched.

"Can you not recast the working you made?" inquired Starfire after a moment's time to digest the information.

"No," answered Kel shortly her gaze still fixed on a green face. "The first spell was difficult enough to craft so that it wouldn't be rejected. The boy not only has three souls but three aura signatures as well; one of Shadow, one of Earth and one of Life. Em is a wielder of Life magic and I command Earth energies. It took quite a bit of work to address the Dark elements of that spell. Not only that, but I've already lost too much mana, and yes, I could cast another spell but I won't be able to take care of my own needs if I do so. Sorry, but my generosity ends when it would do me harm."

Raven bit her lip. Damn it, how were they going to get out of this mess? She felt speculative gazes on her. Looking up she saw Cyborg, Starfire, Robin and Emrys looking at her expectantly.

"What?" demanded the sorceress.

"Raven," began Robin slowly. "You do use Shadow magic, right?"

Raven stared at her leader, wondering what the heck he was going on about. Of course she wielded Shadow magic. The umbra aura didn't give it away? What was he- and suddenly it clicked. The spell had probably been draining because no one there had been capable of addressing the Dark element in BB's spell. If she was part of the spell, then they just might-

"No way," snapped Kel. "The girl isn't trained. I'll admit, her tearing our spell apart was quite a spectacle, but that was more instinct than actual understanding of how the thing worked. She's not ready for such a working."

Raven glared at the other sorceress whose gaze was still locked onto Beast Boy as she sat in midair. Gods above that witch grated upon her nerves.

"Hey," defended Cyborg, "Raven's talented. She'd outdo you any day."

"After she was properly trained, maybe," returned the floating lady, her voice silk and her eyes closed. "At the moment, she'd do more harm than good being a part of this circle."

"Not necessarily," intervened the Life energy enchanter. "All we need would be her mana. She won't cast a single spell."

"A spell formation in the mono-imperious formula," the levitating sorceress mused aloud, left hand cupping her right elbow as the free limb stroked her chin speculatively. "Three sources of mana..." She peered at the silent green boy whose life was in her hands. "The spell warped so much, we might want to regress it too, so factoring that in as well," she peered at Raven from the corner of one eye, mulling it over as she rubbed her upper lip. Finally, "It might work," she declared. "It'll need blood though."

Emrys groaned as he pulled out a knife.

"I hate that." With that said, the wizard dragged the sharp edge across his palm. A thin line of blood bloomed along the cut on his left hand. With a very sigh, he squeezed a drop onto the floor. At the touch of blood, the floor flared to life, a circle of power blossoming about his feet. Lazily, it shifted him to a point in the room, turning the wizard that moved with the circle to face Beast Boy. Casually the knife floated to Kel, who cut her left palm as well. When her blood touched the ground, the floor repeated what it had done with Emrys, taking her to another point in the room. Finally, the dagger came to Raven.

After gently laying the changeling on the ground, Raven held the blade in her right hand, looking the clean thing cock-eyed. Could she trust these people?

Robin fidgeted uncomfortably with his arms crossed. He had not been able to follow the talk of magic. The only one not involved in this, this working that could even begin to fathom what was going on was Starfire and her instruction by Raven had been rudimentary at best. He was not supposed to be confused; he needed to know what the right decision was. If it was him that was going to participate, he wouldn't have hesitated. But this was Raven; Raven was a part of his team, his responsibility. If she died, it was because he let her. But on the flip side, if Beast Boy died, it'd still be on him. He was failing so spectacularly, he must have really done something terrible in a past life. Running a hand through his meticulously gelled hair he ruined his own do as he started to pace.

Starfire stared at Raven anxiously. She had read one of the books about these ritual magics and the mono-imperious magic circles had been of special interest to her. It was an expression of the highest trust in magic circles. The others in a circle like this basically surrendered their magic to the one appointed as the leader and the lead would shape the manas from everyone into the desired shape. If the shaper so chose, he could very well steal everyone else's magic and kill them. Only people with a very powerful will would be able to tear free, and since they had willingly surrendered their power they'd practically have to fight an uphill battle against themselves and the leader as well.

Cyborg silently watched Robin as the boy nearly fell apart. The Boy Wonder was killing himself agonizing over this. The half-robot, half-man did not envy the kid at this time. He trusted Raven to make the right decision though and he knew they were going to make it through this, everyone of them. They had to, they were the Titans and they weren't going to fall this easily.

Raven, after a moment's deliberation, cut her palm and watched as a dark bead of blood fell to the floor. Another circle curled its way about her feet. Looking at it, she finally noticed that every one of the three circles were of different designs. Simple every one was but it seemed impossible to capture them on paper or any other medium since they seemed to shift imperceptibly, remaining the same and different at once.

Looking ahead, she spotted Beast Boy, still residing in the land of nod. Peering at the other mages, she watched as they crouched and pressed their bleeding left appendages to the ground. She mimed their actions and watched at eldritch runes sprouted from her circle to reach the other twos, orbiting the prone figure that was laid in a circle of his own.

"Cavall," called Emrys, half distracted, "show our guests about and make them comfortable."

A largely ignored white wolf that had been standing behind the other three in the room grunted in acknowledgment before standing on its hind legs. The paper forming its body shifted and flowed, tightening in some places and flaring out at others. When everything was resettled, it resembled an androgynous humanoid in an all too white tux, a butler was born.

"Young masters," it rumbled. The voice did not betray a sex. "A working of this level would take time. I will show you the rest of the facilities available here. This way, please."

The three Titans turned to go after staring at Beast Boy and Raven for a moment more before following Cavall. Robin lingered worriedly at the door, looking from one subordinate to the other. Praying to whoever would hear him to protect his friends, he reluctantly followed the others out of the room.

-II-

Kel felt the all too familiar loss of control over her magic that came with her work. Soon, soon she would no longer need to surrender her magic to anyone else to cast a spell. When she cast the remaining two seals upon herself, she'd be able to completely regulate the output of power consciously. Tonight the last two of the twelve seals would be etched upon her being. But she was cutting it close. Very close. With ten of the seals already on her, her mana had been impossible to manage at times. But it all ends tonight. Years of studying under Emrys and finally she would taste the fruits she had tended to so carefully.

Kel frowned. Em had finally had the structure of the spell set. All that needed to be done was for the three elemental manas to fill out the blueprint under Emrys' guiding touch. It shouldn't be taking this long. Her mana responded to Em's will as naturally as her own, they were that well practiced. So what- ah.

"Stop pussy-footing and give the man your magic," snapped Kel irritably. Gods that girl drove her mad.

"Well, sorry Miss I-can-surrender-it-anytime-anywhere, but I'm not used to giving my magic to strangers."

"What did you call me?" demanded Kel a viper's silk to her tone.

The earth sorceress seethed at the accusation. Oh, she had been having an off day, tried to be nice and just to be called a whore by this little slip of a girl? Nuh-uh, ain't happening.

"Ladies, please," soothed Emrys, "let's all calm down. We have a common goal here, saving a green fellow's life. Now I know you're cranky Kel, it's understandable. You're always cranky right before one of your sealings. But please, try to put that away."

Pausing, he turned toward the introvert in this little experiment. Whoo boy, all he knew about her was that she was one stubborn minx. Damn it all, things just have to be complicated.

"Raven, please, it's not that hard to trust. If you absolutely have no faith whatsoever in the pair of us, you wouldn't be in this circle to begin with. On some level, you trust us. Something inside you lets you trust us. So trust yourself… trust us to do what is best for your friend."

Raven glared at the man. She knew she was being unreasonable. She was snappish; at the people trying to help her help _her friend_. What was wrong with her? Her emotions so, so overwhelming. What was the cause of this, this aberration?

"Come on Pixie," snapped Kel impatiently. "There is no time for dawdling. I'm still holding my will over that thrice cursed working in that kid. Let me tell you something, holding that thing back isn't exactly a picnic. I'm already near the threshold for today if I want to do my seal tonight. And I'm sure I told you my policy on that. So cough it up already."

Gritting her teeth, the dark introvert tried, she really did. But it was hard to trust complete strangers just like that.

"Why don't you use your medium to focus your magic?" suggested Emrys.

"Good grief," declared the geomancer after a moment's silence from the antisocial one in the group. "You don't have a medium?" she demanded as she drew a ring from under her collar as Emrys drew a sprig from under his collar as well. Both had been hanging from their respective owners' necks. Rolling her eyes, Kel focused her magic on the ring, summoning power to it, as the twig turned into a staff under Emrys' care. Raven licked her lips uneasily, she was already focusing her magic to her chakra.

"Tick-tock." Two guesses who that was.

Another minute passed, and Emrys still hadn't received the magic he needed to complete the spell. Looking to Kel, he saw the fear and anxiety swirling behind her mismatched eyes. She talked a tough spiel, but she was a softy at heart. Would she let the kid die, or would she sacrifice the rest of her life living under the weight of her own powers?

"Damn it, either surrender your powers willingly or knock yourself out!" screamed Kel.

With an inarticulate cry, Raven faced screwed up into a grimace and she brought her forehead down forcefully, introducing it to the floor.

"Well I'll be damned," exclaimed Kel softly. Hmm, the little Pixie was one tough customer, but she put herself forward for a friend. Or perhaps it was something more…? This bore looking into and Kel grinned wickedly. She was going to have so-o much fun.

-III-

With the other Titans, things were going slow. Robin had inquired about a library. Maybe he could find some texts there that could help him wrap his mind around this magic thing. Cyborg tried to uplink to the internet but found that he couldn't, must be interference from being in a pocket dimension. So, he began rooting around for something to occupy himself with. Maybe he could connect if he could find a phone line and if something else came up, hey, whatever works. Starfire had inquired about a kitchen and Cora and Ceres had been happy to show her to it.

Cavall watched every Titan astutely. Though they were, for the moment, on the friendly list, he remembered that they are hot headed teens as well. One could never be too careful with those crazy youths of America. Ugh, even his masters were a bit batty, Kel was a teen still (she had that excuse) and Emrys was into the thousands (so really, he had no excuse) and neither of them were sane. There were only varying degrees of nutty out there. Maybe it was the human condition…

Looking up at the explosion from the kitchen, the Keeper of the Grounds warily kept a wide berth. Those crazy twins, nothing involving them ever turned out simple. How they caused an explosion in a kitchen that it had already predisposed to not combust would forever remain a mystery. It hoped the alien was alright, but somehow the thought of her in a kitchen sent a shiver of dread ruffling through the pages composing its body.

Peeking into the library, its gaze landed on the leader of this motley crew. Poring over texts, speed reading at prodigious rates, that boy was on a mission. However, one without magic could not truly understand it. They have to experience magic before they could even begin to grasp it.

Looking around, it tried to find the final Titan, the metal one. Where was he? What was he up to? Teenagers; can't take your eyes off of them for a second.

-IV-

Cyborg had finally found something of interest, a laptop. Interesting enough, the laptop could make a wireless connection to the internet. However, he soon got bored with that after looking into the tech forums he had joined. Going through the desktop, he tried to find something interesting to occupy his mind with. After a while of hacking, he finally hit the jackpot.

Inside the hidden files he discovered, he found a mother-load of plans and designs of all kinds. Engines specifications that he had never even conceived of as being possible were meticulously written about. After hooking up to the laptop, he downloaded a couple of them. One that really interested him had been about an electric engine that outperformed modern day diesels. With a bit of tinkering at his end, he'd probably get it to outperform even that. Raven would be grateful, no more messy grime to work with. Well, less of it anyway.

Looking to see what else there was on the thing, he found some things on magical theory. Hmm, magic and science in one place, who would have thunk it? Then something caught his eye. It came under the heading Alchemy. Under it was Human Transmutation and under that was A Treatise on Working around the Philosopher's Stone Dilemma. Interested, he double-clicked on the file and proceeded to read.

That was how the lupine-turned-butler finally found the mechanized teen in front of the laptop. Keltaek's laptop. The laptop that she swore if anyone (other than her) so much as glanced at it the wrong way, she'd kill the poor bastard (of course, her wording had been much more coarse; Cavall, however, didn't appreciate coarse language... much).

"Are you bloody mad!?" the magical construct demanded as close to hysterics as it could get.

The cybernetic teen jumped as if he'd been caught with his hand inside the proverbial cookie jar. Guiltily tapping a few keys, he closed the windows on the electronic notebook before turning around.

"What the bloody hell were you doing on that thing?" hissed the butler, the angry tone more from fear than actual antagonism itself.

"Uh, just surfing the net," replied the metal man.

He was nervous. Why was that?

"Really now?" demanded white being.

That boy was hiding something, but what?

"Um, yeah," answered the teen as confidently as possible.

"Um-hmm and you had to close the windows, why?"

"Uh, well, I was, I, I was looking at something… private?"

Cavall stared. Watching porn; at a time like this? No, not likely. The man was hiding something and was willing to embarrass himself to keep it secret. Fine, it was not going to rat him out, but curiosity was practically written upon its soul.

"Very well, but milady Keltaek does not appreciate having people on her notebook. Please find some other means to occupy yourself with. Perhaps you could read a book. We have many selections in the library."

Cyborg looked contemplatively at the butler. Maybe he could learn more without being in a life or death situation…

"Can you show me any texts on alchemic transmutation?"

Bingo. "Right this way, young master."

-V-

The spell had finally been complete. The Titans had taken to interrogating the two conscious spell-casters about what exactly it was that they did for a living. Apparently, they were part of an Order of Magids, sworn to run the magics of the world. Magic, as it were, needed to be kept in line. Certain places needed magic and others didn't. The wizards of this Order regulate and control the flow of mana throughout the world and even the universe at times. Since magic permeated everyone and everything, it was a rather large undertaking. Luckily, magic didn't shift suddenly or too sharply off course nor, gods be praised, often. On the side they sold wares to those who could pay for their services, granting wishes and the like that people can't get by normal means. Of course, mind altering machinations were strictly prohibited without consent.

After the one sided round of twenty questions (with more than twenty questions), Kel returned to the workshop at the 'back' of the store. Beast Boy and Raven had been moved to more comfortable living quarters, separate rooms of course. Kel had been tempted to leave the two in the same room, but the other Titans clambered about how the Pixie would have had the green hued teen's head on a pike. After a second's contemplation, she caved. They probably knew their friends better than she did.

Now that the guests were all tuckered in and Emrys was undertaking whatever esoteric endeavor that he undertook in private, the earth sorceress began to set her final seals. The last two seals, the ward of the heart and the mark of the mind, would finally give her the mastery that had slipped through her fingers in her youth.

Drawing forth her ring, she peered at the ornament. Absently she traced the twelve knots in the wooden band. With a touch of power, ten of them shone with microscopic markings. Each one corresponded to a seal on her body. This ring was her greatest magical undertaking ever. It was with her from the beginning and it would be with her 'til the end. It was her wand and connected to her on a level she could neither explain nor understand completely. She wasn't quite sure where or how exactly she came upon the thing, but her memories began with it clutched tightly in her fist, standing before the tree that Emrys had slept under. It was only after waking that magician from his slumber that she really began having memories; everything before then was a vague blur. She couldn't even quite remember where she was from, but she knew she was multilingual. She wondered at how many languages she actually knew…?

Shaking the thought from her mind, she concentrated at the last two seals. Calling up the basic structure of the spells, she slowly pored over the same two spell-frames she had gone over repeatedly for weeks. They were as familiar to her as the back of her own hands, probably even more so. They were like breathing to her, so natural that she sometimes forgot it. Or maybe they were more like glasses, perched atop a nose, you're always aware of their aid and the eyes just keep drifting to them, wondering and worrying at them. Or maybe she was the only one who did that? (1)

Biting her left thumb 'til it bled, she idly noted the faded patch of skin that was a reminder of the earlier working today. Ah, the magic of a blood working. Hmm, she was going to have to inform the Titans that they would need to find another geomancer if they wanted to resolve their Beast Boy issue with all due speed. Eh, she'd tell them tomorrow, she noted to herself as she pushed a dollop of blood on the embossing of her ring.

Magic flared all around her, sensing her anticipation and impatience, it was eager to get to work. Quickly they took shape, floating in the air, manifesting in the form of two orbs, archaic symbols worked all about them; shimmering on the surface, glowing underneath, and shifting with power and expectation.

Looking at them carefully, the young witch nodded. Now, now it was time for the hard part (as if maintaining two mastery level workings wasn't hard enough…).

Taking a deep breath, the mage closed her eyes. Fine tuning her control, she made a conscious effort to control every action that her body took, regulating everything to her command. Every nuance of her body was at her metaphorical fingertips, if she so wished, she could have stopped her heart and suspend every living cell in her body. The mental strain was excruciating, and the two workings floating besides her weren't helping much.

After a few moments of running everything at full steam to get used to the strain, she finally prepared the last spell that she needed, this spell was what required her to have conscious command of her body's every nuance and action. Using her mind, she grasped a small amount of blood and slowly phased the liquid through her body. The sudden decrease of pressure in the chamber would've put her body in panic, and every nerve ending from heart to mind were screaming to go into shock, trying to desperately protect its life. Kel refused to give into these demands and carefully equalized her body's blood pressure, carefully minding and sustaining her spells.

Carefully, she shifted the fluid through layer after layer of muscle. It was stretching her above and beyond her threshold for pain and she still pushed on. Millimeter by millimeter, that small splotch of blood carefully crept its way out of her chest 'til finally it was in the air before her.

She grinned as she relaxed her hold upon her body, breath short and sweat gleaming on her face. For a second, she just relished the moment, anticipating success. Then she melded the three together, two seals and a drop of her heart's blood.

A violent storm of magic ensued and the she had to squint to save her eyes. After a moment of roiling in power, tendrils of magic rushed at her tracing a seal at the center of her forehead and another at the solar plexus. She didn't notice, but ten other seals flared into being: a seal each about her wrist and ankles, one each on her shoulder blades and cheeks, and finally one at her lower back and another above her navel. She didn't notice any of this as visions consumed her sight.

The barrage of information bombarding her senses left her speechless. Power and portents clouded her mind. She was stuck in a maelstrom with no way to navigate. Gratefully, she sunk into oblivion, with dreams of dragons alongside the winged and webbed people of Atlantis.

**Chapter End**

(1) Am I the only one that does that?

Author's End Note: Not much on the Titans, but I'll get to them in chappy three. BB will wake and some of his problems will be revealed (poor kid, I'm gonna put him through hell. in case that turns any of you off, it's for his own good... kind of, it's entertaining as well eerily sadistic giggling is heard). Robin isn't going to come out ship shape either, Raven will probably be beating herself up, Terra (the good girl turned bad girl turned good girl turned amnesiac) will also be played with, and Cyborg wants to play with alchemy. Fun, fun, fun. insane cackling is heard in the distance Will you please stop playing that, fo? You're freaking out my readers!


	4. Chapter 3

Author Note: I finished the third chapter! Rejoice my loyal readers! (the soft harmony of crickets chirping fill the air) Well, this is disheartening...

Revised: 05/22/2007

Began: 3/13/2007

Finished: 4/4/2007

**Chapter the Third: The Plot Thickens**

Keltaek woke to a sore backside and an impending headache. She recognized her surroundings for the library and for a second she assumed that she'd just fallen asleep in her niche again- that is until she noticed the inadequate stuffing that had been squeezed in to pad her stay. She blinked at the arrangement and her mind slowly ground up to speed. Right; a green guy sleeping in room, so me bunk in library with Goth.

Looking around for the other girl, she only found the empty mattress that was slept upon with a neatly folded coverlet on top of it. A book lay by the pillow; she recognized the cover and vaguely recalled the contents as being very informative when it came to chakras gems, specifically in their creation.

After waking up from her impromptu nap the day before, brought about courtesy of a certain working, she had woken up and went about dealing with getting the Titans settled. That had been a job and a half, so it was. Grumbling the mage went about getting up, stretching out kinks and heading for the bathroom. Good ol' summon-able bathrooms, the lap of luxury.

Dismissing the missing Titan as unimportant at the moment, she decided to find Emrys. She had not expected such complications when she invited a certain green personage into their abode. One- guest- had been bad enough, but five was just overwhelming. It wasn't that they couldn't house five individuals in their shop, they could easily scrounge up the supplies and space to lodge many times that number; it was the fact that there were strangers under their roof that was uncomfortable. True, she was the one that initiated contact with the green one, but that was repayment of a debt she felt owed to one that willingly risked his life to better the lives of others. The least she could do under the circumstances was to aid such a person in his calling.

Now, as entertaining as they were, they were still strangers. Having strangers, teenage strangers, anywhere could be troublesome. Accommodating super-heroic teenagers- doubly so. Most mages went for the secluded, quiet lifestyle with few notable exceptions. Working to protect the world by subtle machinations was the usual watchword now and back in good old then. Somehow, Kel had the uncanny feeling that life was going to throw her a curve-ball from hell. So much for the simple life, she grumbled traversing the halls.

She finally found Em in his bedroom/workshop and knocked ceremoniously at the door. After hearing an acknowledging grunt she made her way in.

Emrys was an unusual man in the way that he liked sleeping next to spell-components that could literally blow him into itty-bitty pieces. His room was also filled with an assortment of dangerous magical artifacts, curses, jinxes and thousand year old demons that were contained in various perishables of course. Kel casually ducked under the overhangs strung from the roof filled with various herbs and wove her way through the clutter on the floor (spell-books, curses, wizardry paraphernalia- etcetera etcetera). It was why they had to stuff the one named Beast Boy in her room. After all, having an unpredictable shape shifter in a room filled with hazardous artifacts is probably a bad idea but they still needed to monitor the guy. Personalized rooms were... special inasmuch as they were directly linked to their master.

The whole setup for the shop was rather unusual. It was a large amalgamation of pocket dimensions neatly stitched together to form a singular patchwork place known as Keltaek's Knick Knacks and Other Krums (Em refused to be associated with such a ridiculous sounding name). They had pulled in quite a haul in mismatched space, discarded by others who have found them to be of no further use to them and together the unlikely duo had given these homeless spaces a new purpose to be, to exist. However, their rooms were different having been made from scratch. Everything in those rooms, every detail that was summoned into being was crafted by their will, by their desire for it to exist. Every piece was lovingly detailed, saturated in the very essence that made Kel and Em, well, Kel and Em. It was literally a piece of them, a chip off the old block. Few have their permission to dwell within and none could touch a room of theirs without explicit permission without having dire consequences snapping at their heels. Foreign matter in the room was placed under constant observation and any irregularities were reported to the master. It was why the kid was in Kel's room.

It had been amusing to explain to the Teen Titans exactly why the changeling was placed under Kel's watch. Cyborg had not been pleased. As the medic on the team he thought it would be better to have the indisposed shape-shifter under the scrutiny of mechanized precision. However he was reminded that the ailment was not precisely physical in nature but mystical and their resident healer was not versed enough in the craft to contain a situation should one arise. Grudgingly, Robin had folded to their promptings but insisted on staying (the paranoid ones are always the leader). Cora and Ceres had been a touch eager to find them appropriate bedding. If Kel didn't know any better, she'd say they were nervous. Speaking of which-

"Where are C and C?"

"Don't rightly know, don't rightly care," muttered the graying magician. "They did mention something about a vase- and Raaja (1)."

"What?" It came out a little stunned, like the person saying the word was connecting the dots and not liking the image produced.

"Yeah, definitely Raaja." The wizened wizard plowed on in his ramblings as his hands shifted spell components about with a careless grace that came from years of practice. "Something along the lines of the Vase of Raaja being broken and how the freed Raaja would need resealing. Oh, and you're going to have to fix this yourself too, though that came from me."

Kel gawped at him. He expected her, in her barely mystic condition, to take care of the Raaja? By herself? Take care of those monstrous worms all alone!?

To truly understand Kel's hysteria, one must understand the nature of the Raaja. The Raaja were a part of the earth, the cleansers of all things that could bring harm to the life that inhabited this little geo-sphere. That included, but is certainly not limited to, things that generated pollution, radioactive waste products and knick knacks that punched holes into the atmosphere.

Unfortunately, most of these things were created by humans for humans. Suffice it to say that it was not in mankind's best interest to have these things running around. So the Order with the aid of the Avatar of Time sealed the Raaja into a porcelain vase and decided that they'd clean up their own mess before freeing the Raaja to return to their inert state where they belonged- in the recesses of the earth.

Worse is the fact that they- roamed the world as giant worms, which was oddly fitting. But that's beside the point! No, it was a part of the point, but- argh; the point is Emrys expected a mana-less Kel to take on giant worm cleaners all by her lonesome! That is just un-chivalrous. Oh what has mankind come to in this day and age!?

"WHY?" demanded Kel. It was a reasonable question considering the circumstances. She was, after all, without magic.

"Research." Kel stared blankly at him. He sighed, exasperated. "You do want to save the changeling's life, right?"

Bummer. "Well, what am I supposed to do? I can barely lift a pebble!" she spluttered with her right hand in front her face, she pinched her thumb and index finger together to make her point. The eye behind the finger was rather wide and twitching. "Besides, that seal will hold, unless the boy does something completely air-headed, like, drink blood or something. You could research later, save mankind now!"

Em shook his head. "The heebie-jeebies are telling me to research now. You can handle the Raaja." He stared at her in all seriousness. "We both know you can." She flinched and took a half step back. He held her eyes 'til she looked away and finally turned back to his research. "The armory, of course, is open to you. Have fun."

Muttering under her breath on how she would visit a slow and painful demise upon Cora and Ceres both, she made her way to the armory, stopped and turned toward her quarters. The green one was awake and she'd do anything to put off going to the armory and acknowledging the unruly task she was to undertake.

-I-

The first thing he did, when he was conscious enough, was to reach for his head so he could somehow relieve that aching feeling that was making its home in his poor, poor skull. After a moment of trying fruitlessly to massage his ouch-y away (well, _that_ ended in a spectacular letdown), he wondered, briefly, why anyone would think that applying more pressure to an aching extremity would make it feel better. Made no sense at all, but everyone did it. Then he marveled at the fact that he used the word extremity at all. He avoided those kinds of words on principle, they were too cumbersome for him and- he did it again. Frowning, Beast Boy paused and slowly thought about the way he was thinking and just as slowly began to panic.

His brain, his mind, whatever the heck made him tick was not right. It wasn't, how do you say, jumbled. No instincts screaming at him (protect pack, protect prospective mate- _he doesn't have one, he doesn't have one_-, obey alpha) to do things, his senses weren't registering right and he was in an unknown but surprisingly comfy bed. He wondered if he could get something like this at the Tower (it was a very cushy mattress and BB liked his creature comforts). Then he shook his head and went back to panicking.

After a few seconds of frantic thoughts racing through his head and getting him no where at all he decided to meditate, after all, that was why he pried the darn instructions out of Raven in the first place. One would think that the decidedly reserved girl would leap for joy, or at least do the Raven equivalent of it, at the mere idea of having a calmer, saner Beast Boy. That had not been the case and she reluctantly (it was like pulling teeth trying to get the instruction out of her) imparted a few breathing exercises when he threatened to just go to Robin for them or, worse in her eyes, the YMCA if that didn't check out.

Pulling in calming breaths of air he centered himself, and it felt downright freaky not to have the animal instincts inside of him circling around his consciousness. He liked to think that it was protecting his mind and not stalking him for a chance to merge completely with him, but he knew what was what, which kind of sucked. His heart beating at a more normal pace, he took a look around himself and one thought struck him-

_Nice. _

It wasn't neat by any stretch of the imagination, but it was no biohazard either. Miscellaneous items cluttered the floor and furniture huddled together willy-nilly like so many chatting buddies. Edginess still lined his every thought. Where was he, and what the heck was he going to do? He tried to shift into an animal but even before he tried he knew he wasn't going to succeed. Whatever primal promptings he had in his head, guiding him through the transformations before were no longer there to guide him through the somewhat excruciating transitions (okay, so it was a little more than somewhat). Pushing down the rising panic again Beast Boy look to his skin and was only slightly freaked out by the hue, a mix between healthy rosy peach and emerald green, creating quite the atrocity in terms of skin shading and general shading for that matter.

Ah heck, toss the calm center carcass; he was going to freak like it's no ones' business.

-II-

Kel had spotted the C and C duo and had paused on her way to her room to consider, for a moment, how best to exact her vengeance upon them for being unable to safeguard the Urn of Raaja. She had absently noted the color changes in the pair; Cora's pink streaked hair, Ceres' blue streaked strands, the sharp rusty pigment of Red's eyes and the much more vibrant sapphires that Blue sported. Their presence was more grounded; they were more complete but still had no souls. They'd still be unable to leave the shop then. But that was unimportant, what was important was the bloodcurdling scream that echoed in her ears that was distinctly male, though it was doing a fair female impersonation with the notes it was hitting.

Wincing at the sound desperately trying to shatter her eardrums, Kel cursed her connection to her room (fondly) as she bit out orders for Cora and Ceres to find Raven (that girl was too territorial for her own good, swear to the gods above it's true). Making her way desperately to her room, she begged it to shut the changeling up, or at the least to stop transmitting. It took her a while to realize that her room had no idea what she was talking about and that Beast Boy wasn't shouting at all but freaking out and broadcasting his distress on the psychic level. Damn untrained magicians. Emrys was probably spazzing, heads will roll unless she- she smacked herself in the head as she ordered her room to seal the psi-waves within.

Raven soon phased herself beside Kel, who was running to her room. They had been identified as friends and the natural defenses set into Patches (the shop) were lifted, except for the ones around the more important rooms, everyone had their secrets. The grounded mage glared at the dark avian, envy smoking her eyes. Damnable seals and their adjustment period keeping her from the lovely air...

"What's going on?" Kel rolled her eyes at the demanding tone.

"He probably woke up." A cocked brow answered her. "Waking up without your powers would do that to you. And I don't think his skin color is all that appetizing, but maybe if I..." The geomancer trailed off as she kept running while adjusting something under her attention meticulously. "There we go."

"What did you do?" Was that a- a _growl_?

"I adjusted the working that we worked on the kid yesterday," answered Kel absently, "turned his skin green again. That'd probably calm him down some. After all, any bit of normality would probably keep him on a more even keel."

Turn his skin green again? Why wasn't his skin green? What did they do to Beast Boy? Raven looked up only to find Kel further down the hall and raced to keep the geomancer in sight. That girl really _moved_.

Finally they made it to their destination. The door looked plain but careful inspection with 'adjusted' eyes would pick up the intricate magic that was woven into the thing. It was pure magic but crafted in such a way as to not blind the viewer but to awe her with its intricacy. At first glance it was so plain but when it's finally seen, it screamed power and Kel. How that was possible is debatable even to this day.

With a nonchalant wave of her hand, the portal parted for Kel. The gesture was just that, a gesture that wasn't really necessary. The door would have admitted her with or without it, it was her room and that was the way of it. Raven took no note of this and was through the portal with hardly a nod to Kel.

"You're welcome," bit Kel. A girl could really feel under-appreciated around here.

Raven rushed over to the catatonic green (again) boy. "Beast Boy." The voice demanded attendance at once. Beast Boy, or the life sized doll that looked a lot like him, ignored the voice. Wait, drool... yeah, that was Beast Boy. "Beast Boy." The tone was impatient now. "BEAST BOY!" This time the call was accompanied with a sharp crack that thundered throughout the enclosed room.

Kel watched slightly in awe, mostly in fear, and then finally settled on indignation. He was her patient, after all. One just shouldn't treat a patient in such a manner, especially repeatedly. His cheeks were turning a funny hue now, Kel decided that she really should stop it, but the sight of such- cruelty is rather paralysis-inducing. Kind of like watching a car crash in action: you know you want to look away from the disaster you know is going to come but you can't help but to keep watching anyway. It was a real problem among humans.

"Geez, Rae, lovely bedside manner you got there," grouched Beast Boy. He had finally made headway in regaining his faculties. He could almost hear Raven making a sarcastic remark about him having such faculties in the first place. Maybe he should have that looked into; having imaginary voices in your head that sound like your friends can't be healthy.

"If you're awake enough to be immature, then I guess you're well enough to take care of yourself." Be cold, be precise, and try not to wring his neck off for panicking; he didn't know the situation and broadcasting his distress on the psychic level had been unintentional. Raven will not hit Beast Boy again because Raven is a calm, collected individual who doesn't need to vent her frustrations on a green personage for making her worry unduly. Breathe in, breathe out. There you go, Rae. Was that so bad? Raven decided that she needed a psychologist and very soon at that if she could hear the green nuisance in her life calming her down from apoplectic fury.

"I can't believe you slapped him- repeatedly," commented a largely forgotten individual. Her mismatched eyes stared unseeingly as the scene that took place just moments before as it replayed itself over and over again in her mind's eye. And she thought Emrys was strange.

Raven glared at her.

"Well, I'll just, ah, leave you two alone, then," muttered Kel, scooting toward the door, "I know when I'm not welcome," she finished in a grumble as she left her own room. Bah, ingrates the lot of them. Where were C and C again? They had a certain porcelain vase to attend to with extra superglue and a side of paste. It was funny how the magical world had mystical superglue to tie things together again and the muggle world had duct tape. She found it rather reassuring that such parallels existed. Muttering to herself, Kel left her door.

Back in the room, silence ruled affably (not).

"Are you really feeling alright?" Was that a note of worry in Raven's voice?

"Relax, other than not being able to morph, I'm cool I guess." Why was he trying to reassure her? She didn't have powers that were suddenly on the fritz. He looked at his hands, his un-clawed, human hands. They were odd, out of place. His ears were pointy once more, his skin was green again, and that fang was back where it belonged- but his hands, his hands weren't normal anymore. Whoever fixed his appearance didn't know how his hands really looked. And the stark gloveless reminder unsettled him. Speaking of which, where were his gloves? And on the same note, where was his uniform? He looked to his lap to find his grey gloves sitting comfortably waiting for him and an inconspicuous glance at his chest told him he was properly uniformed. Well, _that_ was a relief. "So, what's the sitch, Rae?"

"Apparently you are one messed up teen." The dark girl made herself comfortable, dragging a chair over to his bedside with a telekinetic nudge.

"Not anymore than the rest of us." The metamorph looked at her and the look in her eye began to make him nervous. Raven wasn't in the business of bringing up inane topics. As a matter of course, he was the sole proprietor of that department in Titan's Tower with Cyborg buying in on occasional shares. "Right, Rae?" No answer. "Rae?"

"Stop calling me that, it's Ra-ven," snapped the Empath. With a calm gulp of breath, she went on. "Your history is rather interesting, the bits that we could piece together from looking at the spell that's keeping you alive." Raven is calm, Raven is cool. Distance. Establish it. Now. "Apparently, you have three souls inside of you, one of which is female, the other is undetermined and your own is a given. A complex working was created from this union and was cast to keep you alive. However the spell was incomplete and falling apart at the seams. It almost fell through completely yesterday. So do you have any light to shed on the matter?"

"Huh?"

-III-

Kel watched as Cora and Ceres silently cried as they slaved away to repair the Vase of Raaja when a thunderous roar echoed its way down the corridor.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!?"

The three figures froze as the sound reverberated, waiting patiently for their bodies to stop vibrating. Fresh tears filled the twins as they watched the fragile china shatter anew. Kel grinned in wicked delight as she drove them to start from scratch. No one asked any questions about the thunder. Sometimes it's best not to ask and if they find a green smear on some hapless wall, no one would be too surprised.

-IV-

"How can you not know anything about casting a spell on yourself!?" hissed the half demoness. That's just not possible! She was pacing back and forth, and black magic was wafting about the room, breaking things here and there.

"Dudette, if I knew I could cast spells, don't you think I'd be in Hogwarts by now?" demanded the changeling, arms waving to emphasize his point. He largely ignored the obsidian energy, somehow or other, Rae never really hurt him accidentally or otherwise. Throwing him out of the Tower was a precise art, designed mostly to scare him shitless but never really accomplished much in the way of discipline. Bruises don't count as hurting in his book, when he finally gets Raven to draw blood, he knew he crossed something. "I'd be shouting magic mumbo jumbo and hexing my way through the frontline with you."

"But-but this spell's supposed to be self cast! You can't have someone else cast a self cast spell on you! And don't even think about mentioning subconsciously. There's no way a spell that complicated can be cast without conscious direction!" She was _this_ close to hair pulling.

"What can I say; I'm a man of many talents." The green teen grinned cheekily at the indigo sorceress's glowering visage. He quickly deflated.

"Do you have any idea how big of a headache this is?" she demanded. "You could have died. As in the end, close the book on the last page, pushing up daisies, eternal sleep dead! Idiot!" the black bird drew in a deep breath before letting it out in a slow breath. "Do you know anything at all?"

He shook his head nervously in the negative.

"We'll figure something out. In the meantime, you're going to be on standby, got it?" Beast Boy nodded. A pissed off Raven was not to be trifled with and she wasn't in a beautiful mood to begin with. Wow, when did his sense of self preservation become so strong?

-V-

Cora and Ceres were still fixing the vase and Kel was grinning as she armed herself, almost content. Cavall watched disinterestedly, assuming a male form then shifting to female before resuming androgyny. It could never decide; male or female? Which was the lesser of two evils? One was blunt, the other an intangible. Choices, choices.

It was interesting being a paper construct. Having no sex had its perks but this ambiguity left much to be pondered. What was being missed out on? The women and men it encountered seem to have something that was hidden from it. Was it worth it to cast away this indistinct nature or was the price too great?

It slowly mulled over this and the events that it had witnessed. Raven and Robin- they're such interesting people. Worry, worry, worry- that's all these mortals do.

-VI-

"Robin," Raven had muttered. When she woke up in the library, the sorceress had tried to check up on Beast Boy, but the room was far too heavily guarded. Giving that up for a lost cause she'd headed for the kitchen. Finding her preferred blend of green tea (her fixation on the color green was worrying, so she did what every able bodied human did- she ignored it), she was delighted and set about preparing the organic beverage. However- "you're ruining my morning tea." And with that said, she had taken a slow sip of her brew.

Robin for his part tried his best to contain his emotions, but the feelings of uselessness nipped at his heels and allowed for no escape. They soon overtook him.

"Robin." The warning had an underlying promise of physical pain. How she managed to convey that in a monotone will be forever remembered in the annals of history.

Sighing the empath determined that it wasn't likely that she would get any peace if Robin continued to brood.

"Alright, what is it?"

Robin fidgeted. If you have a empathic half demoness interrogating you, you would too. Especially if she wasn't happy with you to begin with and Raven was not happy with Robin. She was still quite peeved at him for dismissing sorcery so easily. He lived with a sorceress after all. But then and again, this place was practically submerged in 'notice-me-not' wards, deterring attention with ease. It had taken some work for her to pierce them, so he may be pardoned.

"Am I good leader Raven?"

"Of course you are." The answer came promptly, but if he asked questions like that in addition to the feelings that were rolling off of him then he may be having a crisis. Which, to say the least, is not a good thing for him or the team.

"I can't say I agree." The darker avian of the pair felt her stomach sinking. Robin was, overall, a pretty good guy. He was a competent leader, she'd even go so far as to say he was exceptional (though never out loud). "I- I failed. I failed him and I failed the team, repeatedly. Are those the qualities of a good leader?"

"No one is perfect, Robin."

"No, but I have to be. You guys deserve nothing less."

This was starting to really trouble her now. As Raven prepared to reprimand him for the unrealistic mindset, she was firmly interrupted by the sudden distress echoing on the psychic level and quickly lost track of she was going to say. Still, hurried words left her mouth to assure the commander of the teenage brigade that this was by no means over.

-VII-

And now, Bird Boy was still brooding. Such a foolish activity these humans undertake. Dwelling upon failure in such a way was counterproductive and a ruddy waste of time. Really, worrying was pointless; you're going to die anyway so have fun before the inevitable is upon you.

Its attention turned again, focusing on Cora and Ceres. They were Nameless. Sure, they had a designation, but they were still without names. Souls. The only reason they had any sort of identity at all was because of the shop and if they ever tried to leave, they'd, well, not exactly die, but disappear, snuffed out of existence. They were forever bound to this place and were nuisances of the worst kind. Obviously, Cavall wasn't too fond of them. They were still repairing the vase and the paper master, tired of watching them glue the damn thing together again, decided to speed things along, nudging the fragments together and- encouraging them to remain so. The glue, with all its esoteric properties did more than just bind the physical fragments together but the magical as well. The be-spelled vase would be back in working order in no time at all. It was just too bad that the Raaja surfaced before repairs were completed.

With an irate scream of frustration, Kel was off and cursing the heavens as she took to the streets a pair of gauntlets about her forearms, spell cards kept at her hip, a sword buckled behind her and a rough hewn haft (a bow's?) in her left hand.

Robin was still frowning, though he tried his best to hide it from the pretty alien trying to feed him some wriggling mass of- something. Whatever it was, it was still alive. Or worse, it was brought to life. Cavall shuddered at the prospect; being organic once upon a time it could sympathize with the Bird Boy's plight.

Flowing about the place, its mind wandered from one mistress to the other master. Emrys- a strange man working on strange things, thinking about stranger things, doing even stranger things. Cavall shuddered uncontrollably at the thought; it wasn't something one should consider lightly. After all, it was Emrys and strange for him would probably turn an average Joe/Jane's grey matter into a swirl-y mush that could probably be considered a healthy beverage. What was that mad man doing anyways that was so important that he sent a powerless Kel out to contain the Raaja? Solving the arithmancy that was the Beast Boy conundrum should be a snap for him, so what was it really? Kel was too trusting. Paranoid and trusting at the same time, huh, well there's irony for you.

Back in wolf form, Cavall prepared to slink off when an interesting series of beeps called its ears to attention. The boy wonder retrieved his communicator from the infinite depths known only as his utility belt (Cavall swore up and down that there was magic involved when it came to that thing). Apparently, some sort of trouble was brewing in some run down part of Jump City. Something about a Hive and whatever number was involved (five?). The snow shaded lupine tried to discern the tiny sound from the yellow device but to not much avail. Growling at its own relentless curiosity, Cavall prepared to pursue these teenage vigilantes. Perhaps he should have gone to back Keltaek, but that girl was an enigma that could confound her enemies into defeat (it had seen that actually happen, but that's another story altogether). So it was that the shop emptied of semi-attentive people.

And because the shop was empty of semi-attentive people, or to be more precise, concerned parties that a certain green but no longer morph-capable changeling slipped out of the shop, armed with a staff. Where he got the stick was questionable at best.

"You think the dark one is going to kill him?" Cora inquired of Ceres.

To which she was answered promptly with an "Of course."

The two shrugged and went back to gluing the porcelain container back together again.

**Chapter End**

(1) Raaja: for those who recognize it, don't jump down my throat. For those who don't, I don't own this. Raaja comes from Earthgirl Arjuna. So does the Avatar of Time business. Wicked anime, for those environmentalists out there.

Author's End Note: Yeah, so you might be seeing stuff from animes that I can't seem to get my mind off of. You'll probably be seeing a lot too. Maybe I'll make a little out of it for you my lovely readers. (dead silence answers, wait! a cough! ah- oh, that was me...) So, comment, tell me if it's atrocious and don't expect a lot of updates. man, i should be worrying about the other stuff i have here already. losing all my readers...


	5. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Yay! Chappy four be completeded! Yes, the misspelling was intentional. Now, I really feel guilty for not replying to reviews and stuff, but there isn't really much to say... and no, Hiro07, BB does not have a period... sort of.

Revised: 5/22/2007

Began: 4/4/2007

Finished: 4/10/2007

**Chapter the Fourth: Complications**

Emrys was quite confident that he had not sent the green hued teenager to his doom, really. Okay, so he had no idea what he was doing, only that the fates were prompting him to steer destiny onto the right track, supposedly anyway. They were damnable taskmasters, those fates. If they were feeling particularly friendly, they'd indulge him with some fanciful knowledge. Bah, if he could, he'd tell the lot of them to screw off. However, that wasn't really possible, them as being the fates and all. All he could really do was be irreverent, which, as it turned out, became quite easy with years of practice.

Muttering to himself, he looked over the spell map that he had planned out. It was going to be quite the whopper, what with all the intricacy that the boy (girl, thing?) needed. What the heck did that kid do and at such a young age to boot? Must have been only six or so when he did it, he had probably been younger, if the spell was any indicator. Oh well, Beast Boy (was that the name?) had wanted to 'help' his friends. How exactly he was going to accomplish that in his condition would remain a mystery to the wizard but that was nothing to be concerned about. The munchkin did ask for a staff though. Wonder why? No, don't bother with it.

Oh well, he had followed the edicts of the fates. Now he could go back to puzzling over the enigma that was Kel. He never had been able to resist a good puzzle.

-I-

Beast Boy felt awkward walking through the streets with a staff in hand. The civilians eyed him incredulously; after all, they expected Robin to go in armed but definitely not the green Titan. It was weird and just a bit uncomfortable; maybe being the center of attention wasn't so spiffy after all. Eh, he'd forget about all this anyway, once the spell was fixed and all (hopefully anyway, didn't want to ruin his rep). Right now it didn't really matter. All that mattered was that he remembers how the hell he was supposed to swing the thing he was lugging around.

The green titan had a rather colorful past. In Africa he'd started training with the warriors of the tribe, instructed personally by Chief Tawaba himself. After freaking out when his parents died, he'd sort of accidentally traveled the world over; mostly keeping to what little wilderness remained in the world. Somehow he had ended up in China, got reacquainted with humans with some monks he found there, left those shores and finally ended up in America, and had even more bad luck before joining up with the Doom Patrol. Now he desperately tried to recall those excruciating exercises while trying not to fall back into speaking Chinese, or gods forbid, Swahili. Doing either would definitely bring up questions; questions that, to be frank, he did not feel inclined to answering. After all, he wasn't sure what the heck happened at some points and he was sure there were gaps in his memory.

Absently twirling the staff about him, his muscles, his nerves, slowly retraced the moves that had been painstakingly ingrained into every nerve from an age in his life that he had long buried. Not so much because they were painful years (well they weren't too painful but physically tasking), but because of the ones that followed after them. Damn, this'd be a lot easier if he actually knew where his friends were.

-II-

Robin wasn't sure what the hell was going on exactly. All he knew was that the Hive Five were suddenly ransacking the place where Trigon had tried to make his way into the world. Not exactly reassuring. There were no real valuables here, well nothing of monetary value at least. As a matter of fact, it didn't make much sense at all. He turned towards Raven; maybe she'd have some insights.

"Well, what do you think?"

"Doesn't make sense, the Hive has never been for pillaging magical artifacts before…"

"So there is an object of value within this labyrinth?" inquired the Tamaranean. "Please, of what shape does this curiosity take?"

"A book if the rumors are true," muttered the dark girl absently. No one was supposed to know about the book kept here by Trigon's followers. Within it were kept the secrets that the trans-dimensional demon imparted to his followers, if the rumors were substantial. Raven hoped not, but life took to a certain trend when it came to such situations. "The Noctix, if it even exists, supposedly contains terrible knowledge- black knowledge. It should be locked up quite tightly by Trigon's minions. It's the only thing here that can be of any value to anyone left there. But it's rather pointless, the thing is supposedly magically safeguarded and booby trapped. Unless they have a sorcerer on their team, this'd be quite the exercise in futility."

"Oh, they got a magic guy with them alright," grumbled Cyborg. "Remember Kyd Wykkyd?"

"Damn," with that out of the way, Robin proceeded to make plans. "Raven, do you know where the thing's located?"

"No, but if I know my father, and unfortunately I do, he'd instruct his followers to put it with Pedestal of the Gem."

Three pair of eyes turned to peer at her blankly. Deflating with a sigh at their obtuseness, the sorceress went on.

"The upraised hand-thingy?"

With an embarrassed cough, the fearless leader plowed on.

"Alright, we'll only observe for now, since we don't really know what they're doing here or even if the book exists. Though they were quite brazen we can't move unless they pull something. Jacking the book (if it exists), or at least trying to," here he smirked, "we'll move. No questions? Good. Titans, Go!"

With that the four stalked off to stalk their prey. Hopefully it wouldn't be terribly interesting, living the life of a hero kind of gets one in the mood for something mundane. However, there was a certain unspoken rule in the whole hero business and that was life was never mundane when you mix heroes and villains. Well, almost never, but those were exceptions to the clause, not the rule.

-III-

Kyd Wykkyd was a minor demon. Such a very minor, insignificant demon, in fact, that he pretty much got lost in the shuffle for positions in the whole demon hierarchy. Most minions knew their place; they went pillaging and plundering, wrecking mindless havoc at their master's or, in some cases, mistress's bidding. Wykkyd wasn't even placed in those ranks. He didn't look terrifying enough. His magic was, to put it bluntly, drab compared to other demons. He couldn't even match that half-breed Raven and she hadn't even tapped half her potential if he were reading the indicators correctly.

So now, here he was, infiltrating Trigon's, the Trigon's, base of operation on Earth and trying to elevate himself, to distinguish himself as a demon. Trying to fit in as a human, criminal or otherwise, had not worked out. Working with Slade had been an interesting development though.

He hadn't been too sure why he approached Slade, the man wasn't trustworthy, and his unsettling- compulsion to find an apprentice was downright disturbing. But he had approached the man, made a deal with a human devil and went right down to business.

Slade was efficient. Very efficient. How he knew the things he knew Wykkyd wasn't sure he wanted to know and he was a full blooded demon for cripes sake. Maybe his stint at trying to pass for human had gone on a little too long and a little too well, but that- _man_, for lack of a better word, was freaking creepy. He touched upon the black arts like a lover and spoke of it as a man who had deliberated on every curve. He waxed upon it with a better understanding on the subject matter than even Wykkyd himself did. But- so long as their goals coincided, he would work with, no, alongside him.

The Noctix, that was a fountain of knowledge and, thus, power that the underdeveloped demon needed, wanted desperately- but so did Slade. He was anxious about handing such power to a- a creature like Slade, but a deal was a deal. Slade had drawn up a contract and Wykkyd was bound to keep his end of the bargain if Slade kept his. Having gone meticulously over the deed, the demon signed the thing. Now, here he was with his be-spelled team-mates and an extra, trying to infiltrate a heavily fortified demon stronghold.

Luckily enough, the Teen Titans had disarmed most of the booby traps leading to the pedestal. Unfortunately, the Titans had replaced it all with their own booby traps that Gizmo, red-eyed and 'under the influence', took to dismantling. Raven had reached it and Trigon had nuked the world over. Wykkyd still didn't see the point of ending all life on a planet, how the heck was one supposed to get a thrill off of that? It was rather pointless and lasts all of five seconds. Really, there was no point. He didn't get the whole deal that the other demons got out of it. Maybe he was too forward thinking.

He turned to Private Hive (the extra) and considered the subject under his inspection. He looked fine except for reddish tinge to his eyes. Wykkyd would like to say that this was his doing but that would taste a lie from his mouth. Slade, that lunatic, was the one to cast the compulsion curse, then effectively brainwashed them to become the most efficient fighter born of their natural- talents. Suffice it to say, Wykkyd had never seen a shield do the things that P.H. was suddenly able to do with it. A shudder ran down his spine at the thought and the demon had to consciously control his bladder.

Finally, they reached the pedestal. Wykkyd swpt his senses out, searching for the tome. Why did they always come in tomes? Why not CDs? It was all about the modern age now and demons really have to get digitized. Tomes were just so heavy and cumbersome. Then again, some wiseacre would probably say that the 'weight' of such knowledge necessitated a 'weighty' container. Nitpickers. Finally finding what he was looking for, a heavily layered 'vault' of magic, he began trying to disarm the dang thing. This was made significantly difficult since it was right in the middle of the freaking air. No visual cues to wrap his mind around. Okay, no problem. Wykkyd was a demon and if the human acolytes of Trigon can get to it, so can he.

Unfortunately, it was going to get much more complicated when he heard the distinct sound of an annoying bird shouting out-

"Titans, Go!"

Well this was going to hell in a hand-basket.

-IV-

Robin pulled back a bit after knocking out another Numerous, scoping the situation. Ugh, now he remembered why he hated tangling with the Hive, lousy southerner was annoying as all hell with his multiplication, division, whatever. The sight that met his scrutiny was not welcome. Numerous was assisting his cohorts, backing up Mammoth as he wrestled with Cyborg, engaging Raven with See-More, tackling Starfire with Private Hive, and- and Robin had left himself open to an ambush from Gizmo. Luckily the sixth sense that one developed when participating in such interesting extraneous activities in life usually left a body with a sixth sense of sorts, which, incidentally, saved the young teen from becoming shish-kabob. He absently noted how Wykkyd was staring intently at nothing before turning back to the adversary at hand.

This wasn't right. The Hive was never this smooth, had never worked this well together. They fought alongside each other before, sure, but never like this. Numerous wasn't trying to flood the place with doppelgangers and getting in everyone's way, Mammoth wasn't just brawn but strategically fighting and throwing his weight in where it hurt, See-More was much more methodical with that eye-thing of his, and Gizmo was utilizing his gadgets in ways Robin hadn't even considered physically possible. The fight wasn't going well for the Titans, Numerous was far from exhausted and they hadn't even touched Wykkyd yet, the main target in the first place. Great. This was not turning out to be his day at all. When the hell did they get this good? They were practically quiet in their efficiency, no, they were downright silent. The Teen Wonder could suppress the shiver running up his spine.

And that's when he realized they were _silent_. No jeering calls of snot for brains, no angry growls, no taunting laughs. The Hive always traded banter with the Titans (not so much with Raven, but you get the point). This wasn't the Hive, or at least it wasn't just the Hive. Grand, another evil master plan to deal with (bet it was Slade). What was Wykkyd up to, and when did he lead?

Growling in frustration, he turned his full attention back on Gizmo and the various Billys on him. This was hopeless, knock out a few of the Numerous and they're recalled only to be replaced by more. Try to knock out Gizmo and a Billy would intercept. It was more than likely that the others were suffering from similar situations. Gritting his teeth, the boy wonder was going to demonstrate exactly why he was christened as the boy wonder. Take out his share of the trash first, then help the others.

Suddenly, Robin wasn't before the young genius and the munchkin, befuddled, searched for his teen opponent. Not finding him, Gizmo took pause and was suddenly waylaid from behind. The various Numerous's backing the techie didn't even have a chance to respond before the young bird disappeared again into the inky shadows. Gizmo was just about to be finished off with a firm tap from a handy bo-staff when a green teen armed with a staff swept in, cutting into the various Numerouses standing about.

Robin, slightly taken aback, decided to yell at his errant teammate later. Beast Boy had been ordered to stay back. After all, they didn't know he could use a staff like that. Damn it, what else didn't he know about his team? Tapping out the bald kid, Robin turned to do likewise with another opponent.

Using his surprise entry into the fray to his best advantage, Beast Boy tried to back his friends up with the limited experience he had in staff fighting. It helped that the Hive sort of underestimated his effectiveness with the thing, so he caught them flat footed even five seconds into his entry. It was amazing what one could do with a big stick in five seconds. In that time, he'd helped Raven deal with See-More and was on his way to backing up Cy as Raven forced a path toward the Tamaranean. Robin was doing mostly support where needed, trying desperately to knock out every Numerous. The combined effort wasn't working spectacularly and See-More and Gizmo were already coming to. How was that possible? Suddenly the staff in Beast Boy's hand broke. What the hell? This was not the time for this to happen!!

Gizmo was backing up Mammoth mostly, wrecking havoc the best he could, which was sadly very well. See-More was double teaming with Private Hive against the girls and Robin was just flat out overwhelmed by numbers. Beast Boy was frantically hopping around, trying to provide a distraction. Man, if he could just morph…

-V-

Emrys was looking into the armory and noticed the staff that was missing. Wasn't that thing supposed to be repaired? He had placed it out front since he wanted to make sure he saw it when he came in to tick off what needed to be done and to remind himself to mend the dang thing. Now, where could it have gone?

-VI-

Cavall stared at the stacks of paper before it, its maw gaping in such a way that if it had saliva it would've been drooling. The oft lupine paper construct had been diligently following the teen law enforcers before it became sidetracked by the paper factory. Oh, it was glorious in sheer variety when it came to parchment. All the sizes, all the textures, all the colors! It was nirvana… almost like a bookstore, though Cavall was reluctant to tear printed work up. They had nice paper in there too.

For a moment, the paper creature just basked in the presence of all the paper; then Cavall slowly floated back to the real world. It must have paper. How it lived without these various flavors before was beyond its comprehension. Making its way inside, it looked for someone in charge as it shifted into a he. Finally finding someone that fit the bill, he made his way over and went about the task of purchasing all that was within this factory.

After offering the man a staggering sum and putting it under the shop's tab (he wrote a check), he idly realized that Kel was going to have his head. Shrugging it off, he decided that that was of little consequence and that achieving nirvana was a worthy task and that a little money should not get in the way of such a noble goal. Blinking, he wondered at how he stumbled upon this place anyway and finally remembered how he was supposed to be tailing the Titans. Oops.

"Uh, sir?"

"Hmm?"

"We can send you the paper in no time at all," simpered the man he had pitched his check to. "Just write down your address and we'll get the paper to you."

"Oh, that won't be necessary," the pale man grinned. It was a rather alarming grin and so Jim's step back wasn't unwarranted. "I'll be taking my purchase with me when I leave now. And don't worry, the check's legit." And with that his shape rippled and he was a she.

With an upraised hand, she called to the paper, animating the lifeless sheets, causing them to leap into the air before converging on her position in a languid arc. The pages flowed into her in a roaring flutter, finding room and extending her being. She grew in size and finally halted the flow. The rest of the sheets trailed after her as she made her way out of the factory. Sheets rushed to the fore, forming a paper airplane that leapt into the air. Now, where were those Titans? Ah, the tracking tag that was attached to the mech was still active. There we go now.

Jim stared, as did his subordinates. You don't see that everyday. It was pretty safe to say that work for today had come to a screeching halt. Thankfully, the factory was just a cover for something else, and paper selling wasn't all that important. You hear of paper constructs, but to actually see one, man.

Jim was unimportant, he mostly mans the front. Behind the scenes though, Section Thirteen's underground worked. S-13 had many fronts, they had hoped to find Keltaek and Emrys through them (and besides, having nice little outlets all over the world equaled faster responses). They found Cavall and that was enough. Something was shifting and the Magids know and Section 13 needed to know.

"Hello? Patch me to Jade Chan. Yeah well, trust me, she'll want to hear this."

-VI-

The Titans were a far cry from tip top. Even Robin with his unholy stamina was worn. Beast Boy had been attacking legs, moving everywhere and trying to support everyone, though there had been a noticeable focus where it came to the girls. Raven was the (doesn't have one!) prospective mate and Star was, well, Robin would kill him if he was backing the boy wonder up when he could have been supporting Star. Robin was practically tag-teaming with Cyborg, watching the cyber teen's back with a weapon in each hand. The half android had devised a way to use sonic waves to deflect attacks from behind with vibrations, but it was better not to let anyone touch him in the first place.

Beast Boy was growing desperate. Frantically, he looked for danger before him, trusting that his chosen (stupid odd phrasing, making him sound like an animal...) and pack sister to cover his back. He snarled before viciously socking a Numerous in the gut and mashing his own mouth to the others lips, drinking his blood.

Raven turned to see what that emotional burst was all about, she'd been afraid that the Beast had come out. That would have, to be blunt, wrecked the working they placed about him. What she found was Beast Boy frenching a Numerous. 'All the good ones are either gay or taken', she thought numbly. For a blessed second, the battle came to a screeching halt. Everyone stared, even Wykkyd, in complete and utter disbelief. Finally Beast Boy pushed the shocked Numerous away, casually licked his lips for the last traces of red. The Billy he tossed aside did not get up.

Turning, with a casual air to him and a decidedly disinterested look to his eyes, the changeling sized up the situation before saying, quite casually-

"Carry on, folks." The voice was somehow careless, even light if you didn't pay attention, yet it carried a quality that was not unlike silk sheathed-steel.

The Hive was caught rather flat footed, along with Raven. The rest of the Titans turned back to repulsing the enemy; Cyborg figured the grass stain was trying to distract the enemy for them so that they might recuperate. Thanking and cursing the green bean at turns he hurriedly tried to scrub his memory banks of the scene he had witnessed. However, Raven saw the blood. Beast Boy did not do the whole drinking blood shtick, he was a vegetarian for cripes sake. And she couldn't help but stare at the polymorph as he was surrounded in a bubble of space, heedless of the battle that waged about them both. She could feel his aura, and that did not bode well. That spell was supposed to be sealed and she felt it crack. Heart racing slightly as she struggled to control the beginnings of panic and fear racing through her she called out to him.

"Beast Boy, don't-"

What she was going to say, no one will ever know as Beast Boy became Beast Boys. The fight was going to be decidedly more even now. And for a second time, everyone froze.

"Crap." Wykkyd's sentiment was echoed by just about everyone.

-VII-

Cavall rushed over the rundown section of town. She recognized the place. Trigon's followers were housed here. Grimacing, she remembered how terrible the argument between her masters' had been. Kel was all for confronting the inter-dimensional demon but the Order of Magids refused to allow for such action. Em had to follow their directives since he was officially inducted but Kel wasn't. And Kel had been very loud in voicing her displeasure when Em wouldn't let her go solo. The pair had even broken down to all out fighting over it, physically voicing their displeasure. Emrys was just as frustrated with the Magids; after all, he did lead the group in a time long forgotten.

Stretching her awareness, she brushed over the tag located directly beneath her. Sweet. This shouldn't be too hard. Slipping her consciousness into the discreet slip, she took quick stock of the situation.

And did not like what she saw one bit.

True, the Titans were turning the tables, but the green one was here (the green one was not supposed to be here) and he had apparently learned how to freaking multiply (or divide, whatever). If Cavall had to guess, and she made good guesses, then the seal was cracked and his magic was active again. She had to hurry. It probably wasn't his magic alone.

With due speed and an intense urgency prompting her, she swept the tag that had fallen inside (fell probably after the engagement begun) to the roof and flooded the lower levels with paper. Waves of white crashed into being around the titans, surging forth to decidedly turn the already turning tide.

Wykkyd decided at this point that he might as well help his comrades before whatever this new threat was pummeled the rest into submission while leaving him to fend off six, or more like six hundred now, he decided as he looked at the green boys trying to box him in. Quickly freeing his comrades with a few well placed spells, he turned his attention to demolishing the Titans and whoever it was that flooded the place with paper was.

Who was the other dark one there? Plain black robe get up, hood, and not much else, not even so much as a chin showing, lousy cowl. Was that the person that flooded the place with paper? Then another made her presence known. She was as pale as snow with everything else in various shades of white. The trench coat ensemble was didn't hide a nice figure but she was intimidating with her height. With but a slight shift the paper reacted, regrouping and turning away from the Hive.

The new dark one eyed the white one, a brow raised in curiosity, while the dark avian eyed a certain polymorph who had a decidedly confused look on his face. Okay, he subdivided as an amoeba before but never as an elf. Oh man, wasn't he supposed to be powerless? What did Emrys say to him before he left?

"Remember my boy," the old magician had muttered, "you should not be able to morph or do anything other than be human. If you exhibit any peculiar traits not normally found in a human besides the hue of your skin and the points on your ears, you're in serious trouble. Your life could very well meet a very early demise."

Yep, that was it. Oh. Oh man, he was so dead!

The dark figure, the new one anyway, spoke.

"You're new to me." The voice was soft, neither feminine nor masculine as it addressed Cavall.

"You're not to me," she answered. Hmm, Cavall was a guy name, right? Should she shift into a guy so as not to confuse people or should she stick to her female form? Being female made for easier paper manipulation. Don't know why but it did.

The shadow's tattered robe did not so much as shudder but all could tell the figure was frowning.

"I suppose it matters not," the shadow declared, coming to a decision. "What matters is that this is taken care of with due speed. My host needs attending to. Let us be quick about this."

With that, the figure turned to the Hive and found Wykkyd glaring at itself. Nothing affected the shadow as it raised the approximation of arms and called darkness to condense. The demon snarled and uttered a dark word in the grinding tongue of demon-kind. Tainted power tore into the shadows and reached toward the shade along with the rest of the Titans. With a mere gesture, the cloaked newcomer summoned another shadow and named it, giving it form and substance, and uttering one command to it after the impure onslaught was halted.

"Lord Despairidus, attack."

And attack it did. With slow, agonized movements, the lord shifted the cross off its right shoulder and back. A gurgling groan bubbled its way through emaciated lips. Chains kept its decency and only because the first shadow called the second lord were they able to determine a sex. Links pierced pale grey skin at odd intervals, skin that was definitely starved of the sun's touch. The rotting flesh at each piercing was foul, the rank smell filling the atmosphere, coating it in despair. With a harsh crack, his jaws yawned open as a shrill shriek flew from rotting lips, a war-cry. The cross flew across the room toward where eyeless sockets were trained on the demon. Another inarticulate screech from Wykkyd and the cross was shaking-ly halted in its advance.

However, as the match between lord and demon was waged, another battle was fought involving the Hive and a lot of paper. It was rather one sided, they couldn't really hurt the dang things, they were sheets of paper. Mammoth couldn't tear it, See-More's monocular face-plant was diced into so many pieces, Gizmo was relieved of his gadgets, Numerous was bound (each and everyone of him), and Private Hive was strung and hung upside down like a slab of beef. Cavall eyed the six prisoners dispassionately placing locking seals on the parchments holding them.

The Titans weren't having such a grand time of things. The shadows and Wykkyd were tearing the place apart, and it was all they could do to keep in one piece as they tried to attack. Links of obsidian sprung into being, chasing the vagabond demon and unsuccessfully chaining the boy in place. Despairidus cried again, filling the hearts of all in hearing in pain beyond description. Darkness rose and tried to swallow each one of them not physically but emotionally drown them. It was a struggle that none of the Titans took to with ease; they all carried plenty of memories for despair to feed off of. Beast Boy fell with a cry of pain and Raven moved to protect him, a touch of desperation to her movements.

Cavall watched dispassionately as the battle waged on, his attention firmly rooted with tearing apart the curse binding his prisoners. Annoyingly enough, he couldn't do much except keep his prisoners alive and tearing apart spells. Besides, his paper magic was rather useless in such a setting. The Titans were finding this to be all too true for themselves as they tried to join the battle. Wykkyd brushed aside their attacks with an irritated air (Trigon was much more dramatic with his bellowing, but Wykkyd had decided a while ago that such antics were really childish. Besides, no one liked a tease). Not even Raven's magics would do much here; shadow dancing was powerful, but a demon with the artifact that Cavall suspects was in Wykkyd's possession would reduce the dance to child's play. Still... this was unnatural, Wykkyd (was that his name?) should not have such power nor knowledge. Where did he get his toys?

Then, as if a battle between a nightmare lord and demon wasn't enough of a bad thing, the proverbial shit hit the proverbial fan. The first shadow groaned, this was not what he had been hoping for when he woke up. 

-VIII-

OMAKE!

Kel wondered briefly when she was supposed to show up in this chapter. She was an important character (or at least she'd like to think so) but so far it seemed the author had no intention of putting her in. a horrible thought struck her. What if she was going to be discarded? What if she was supposed to die? She was without powers and all she had were these useless spell cards. F---, she was a dead woman (teen really, but we all get a bit dramatic when we realize that our demise was imminent, so she could be excused). She- oh, she was in the next chapter… well, the author gets to live another day. Wait a minute, she was going to share screen time with a blonde? F--- that! If she wasn't going to be in this chapter, then she was going to hog it all on the next! Author boy, you're a dead man.

**End Chapter!**

Author's Note: Beast Boy's abilities are going to be explained. So will the Shadows. Despairidus is not a new character, just a summoned manifestation of despair. Oh, and I thought throwing in a demon would be fun, and we all love the Hive. Kind of...


	6. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Sorry, this was rather long in coming. Heh, it was rather hard to write and then I was bombarded with school and crap. Hope nobody lost any hair over this. What am I saying, of course you didn't. Have fun! Oh, did anyone spot the reference to the Jackie Chan adventures? oh yeah, some revisions in the previous chapters. hmm, just a heads up, you might see more stuff here that you might recognize. again, i'll give brownie points for whoever catches them. ain't i generous?

Note: i don't any of this stuff. not even the OCs. really. they're suing me for their souls. sigh it's a sad we're living in.

Began: Unsure

Finished: 5/11/2007

Posted: 5/22/2007

**Chapter the Fifth: Worms, a Tale with no End**

"Nymphs of Water, surge!" 

The words were answered with a roar of crashing waves. The liquid came, summoned pure and clean, rushing through the air and circling about its summoner. The brunette was only watching the waves through her peripheral vision; the lot of her attention was fixed firmly on the Raaja before her. The stupendously huge worm had been giving her enough grief that the desire to crush it with magic sparked little to no remorse. True, the Raaja existed to only destroy substances that harmed the beings on this bio-sphere but the battle had drawn on long enough to leave the usually patient girl irritated.

Her gauntleted hands shimmered with controlled power. Using her arms to help her direct the attack, she thrust the water up in sharp blades, her hands mimicking the motion as her body followed the movement as she advanced a step. After sending the water to slice into the worm for a while like this, she pulled the liquid back, reshaping the deluge into dragon and thrusting the serpent at the worm. With a thunderous cacophony the aqua rex struck, the force of the splash damage decimating (luckily) empty buildings. Thank the gods the populace of Jump were sort of used to supernatural battles and had done the smart thing when this contest between magic cards wielding mage and giant worm cleaner began- they skedaddled. With what remaining power she had lent from the card was used to minimize property damage. After that was done, the shimmer left her gloves and coalesced into a card, disappearing into the holster at her hip.

Frowning, she made sure the 'bow' was firmly lodged in her belt before drawing steel. Charging forward recklessly, she called to the mystic energies residing in the blade and cut decisively into the flesh, hardly able to believe that she was still on her feet, ridding herself of some of her frustration and fear. The sword became nothing but silver arcs of flickering steel as it bit again and again, venting and raging. Seconds later, Kel was flying through the air as she was batted aside. The Raaja did not appreciate being disfigured, no matter how insignificantly.

Calling another spell card forth, she intoned shakily-

"Salamanders of Flame, dance!"

The air shimmered about the Raaja, tracery of energy zipping about the target before it all bloomed in a fantastic shower of heat and light. The air warped around the battlefield, any lingering perspiration from the card before were quickly dispersed, becoming desert dry. The monstrosity reeled back, clearly off balanced by the attack. Hastily, the mage drew the haft/bow from her belt as the flames reconvened to form a card again.

"Arjuna's Arc!"

With that declaration, the haft burnt gold as it stretched into an asymmetrical longbow. For the most part, it was rather plain. Two thirds of the length belonged above the grasp of the bow and the last third protruded below. Both 'halves' were mostly plain. There were slight protrusions where the 'halves' met the haft of the bow. It was re-curved gently to add even more power to the weapon.

The arc firmly grasped in hand, she touched bowstring calling forth a shaft. That appeared in another blaze of gold and Kel drew a deep breath, trying to center herself as she pulled back on the string. It was a struggle, the Arc was no lightweight. String pulled firmly to her ear, the mage took aim, noting the faintly shimmering text that orbited the arrowhead with the shaft knocked back. Once she was sure she wouldn't missed, Kel loosed.

The bolt's flight screamed through the air before finding its mark. The world shook as silent thunder roared as the arrow embedded itself in Raaja flesh. With a nonexistent 'whoosh', the world bent around the Raaja as it futilely clung to this plane of existence. The world continued to warp around the guardian until it was finally folded away and sealed in the arrowhead. The world unwound itself from this singularity and the arrowhead gave way to gravity.

Picking up the arrowhead, she peered at the golden tip with its three prongs almost but not quite meeting to form a tip. The arrows were strange like that, but mystical items were inherently strange. With what magic she had, the mage poked at the cap and found that this wasn't what she needed. Sighing, she resigned herself to the fact that this was another decoy. The Raaja were a singular entity that resided in many bodies. Until she found the 'origin' body she'd just be wasting her time stopping these things one at a time.

Groaning to no one in particular she stood up, and tried to stop the dry heaves that were coming. Or she would have if that shop hadn't caught her eye. The mage stared, eyes slightly glazed at the shop's window pane (oddly enough, still intact). There before her were the holiest of holies: Magic the Gathering cards. They were the rarest of the rare, every die hard gamers' (of Magic the Gathering) one and only wet dream. Drooling at the sight before her, she walked in, more or less in a trance.

-I-

Serra Markov did not like how her day was going, not at all. For one thing, her friends, chocolate toned Natalie and peachy-keen Angela, had dragged her to the mall. It was- indescribable. The only words that came close were along the lines of 'terrible', 'cruel', 'punishment', and 'wrong'. It was very wrong in the sense that she knew she and her friends should stay home, stay safe- from what though she didn't know. There was just this frantic screaming in her head that demanded she stay indoors, safe.

"Come on Ser," Nats growled, brushing her dreadlocks behind her ear. "You hate the mall, but you don't hate it enough to become this gloom soldier. Usually, anyhow."

The blonde glared at the dark girl eyeing her sideways, blue eyes peeking out of gold strands. Serra was always hard up on cash and usually irritable whenever her friends, mostly Natalie, wanted to splurge.

Angela stopped and turned to her friends. Nats had stopped since Serra did, and Angela, after walking alone for a bit, finally noticed that she could only hear her own footsteps. Cocking a red brow, the girl turned inquiring blue eyes toward the blond of their number. Her other brow soon joined its sister.

"Hey, isn't it a little quiet here?"

All three cocked their heads to listen and heard nothing. No hustle and bustle of normal Jump city traffic. No coming and goings. Nothing. Serra gulped nervously as her eyes darted about. Ooh, she had the willies.

"Um, guys?" squeaked the blonde, her body scrunched up half defensive, and half loose and ready. It was like two different reactions were fighting a war over what the body should be doing, getting ready to flee or fight. Both instincts jostled for mastery and Serra had no idea how she was going to fight anything but her body, something inside of her whispered that she could fight if she wanted it enough. "I think we should get out of here. It's- it's getting closer," she whispered.

"What's getting-"

That was all Angela got out before a giant worm- thing came screaming out of the concrete, roaring like it was nobody's business.

"That," squeaked the blonde. Turning tail, she yelled over her shoulder, "Run!"

And ran the three of them did. They ran at speeds they had not thought their bodies were even capable of and if a track coach could've seen them now, there would've been comments about rude form but excellent potential. However, adrenaline and fear can only take a body so far, and unfortunately for Angela, she was never the athletic type. She tripped. With a yelp of surprise, Angela made acquaintances with the ground.

Serra stopped, turned and searched for the source of the noise, body primed to move to intercept danger for any civilian. She found her friend getting up wobbly feet, trying to desperately to start moving again. In a heartbeat, the blond was at the redhead's side, under her left arm and half dragging and half leading her friend to safety- well, at least away from the thing.

She sensed the creature rearing up behind her and Serra turned, reaching desperately for something she could do to stop or even just slow that damn thing. Then suddenly, it was as if a barrier had been breached and her senses, senses she didn't even know she had, came alive. The earth was suddenly a lot more interesting, mineral deposits, acids, bases; everything about the earth around her was hers to know. Suddenly she tensed, and the earth shifted, moving to placate her whim. Earth rose forming a wall and barricading both Serra and Angela from the maddened thing behind them. But Serra knew that she wasn't Serra anymore, she was Terra, former Titan, former Apprentice, and Traitor all around.

Terra, birthed from stone. Geo-frickin'-mancer.

-II-

Jinx quickly came to the conclusion that Robin was so dead the next time they met. She didn't care if he was the leader of the Titans; he was a dead man walking for putting her and Kid Flash here, no matter how important his other errand was. Handling Raaja was not what she signed up for. Goddess above, she'd already had to deal with that Terra chick but to tangle with a guardian of earth itself? She had to dust up on her spell work just to keep her and Quickie alive. A red and yellow streak blurred itself into existence next to her.

"We have problems."

"More?" groaned the sorceress. This just wasn't her day.

"Yep," smiled the speedster. She took comfort in the fact that it was a comforting kind of smile, not the 'cocky as all hells bastard' smile. She loved both smiles but at the moment she'd strangle him if he was still arrogant after ineffectually dealing with guardian worms they could hardly even touch. Wait a sec, his smile morphed into- oh no, he didn't. "Apparently, we have a little rock n' roller chick and friends to save."

Rock n' roller? Chick? Feeling dread well up within her, Jinx asked the all consuming question. "Is she blonde?"

"Um, yeah, she is actually," he answered slowly. Scratching his head at this development, he wondered if the two knew each other.

"Let's get this over with," griped the bubblegum haired sorceress. Surging forward, the sorceress launched a wave of pink energy to ease her travels as she slid across the more or less frictionless surface that was the concrete beneath her feet. This little trick allowed her to not exactly fly but it did let her float over the whole thing at phenomenal speeds. Quickie didn't like the trick much since it got rid of traction, something his powers desperately relied upon. However, this little parlor trick had quite the price tag and Jinx rarely used it, except in emergencies. This was an emergency. The emergence of Terra could be- messy, in a word.

Kid Flash grumbled about the unnecessary expenditure of power from Pinkie, but he was mostly griping because she didn't let him hold her. Oh, the missed opportunities. Sighing at the irony of having quick feet but a slow brain, the junior Flash frowned, his thoughts taking on a grimmer cast. Jinx was usually a-okay with public displays of affection (so the streets were empty, he liked to cuddle), even when under fire. This must be serious. Didn't he hear about a earth shifting Titan before? There was something about a- traitor?

-III-

It was all going swimmingly, she had purchased some interesting Magic cards to add to her deck and was making her way to the next Raaja. Then out of nowhere, somebody decided it was a good idea to attack her with a sword in hand.

Dangerously behind from being caught off guard (she had been distracted by some rare finds she was going to add to her considerable collection), Kel moved with the speed of desperation. Duck, turn, and dive- out- of- incoming blade was all she did for the first few passes in this farce of a duel. Growling at being caught off guard by the cloaked stranger, Kel began retaliating viciously. It just wasn't enough that she had to deal with stories high monstrosities, but sick bastards with a sword had to have a piece of her too. She has had it with this nonsense and it showed in her swordplay.

Turns out, her opponent was no novice. Whoever it was matched her pace and then some. She faintly wondered at how anyone could move at such speeds while encumbered by that grey thing (the material looked especially heavy). And it didn't help that the shroud concealed everything, leaving her with precious little to divine the next attack with. A guttural rumble fled her chest as she targeted the cloak, chipping away at the covering, inch by inch. Finally she screamed triumphantly as her jian caught the bothersome article and with a twist and a leap back, she divested her opponent of the protection. The gleeful grin left her face as she eyed the man revealed.

Sword drawn and at the ready, Kel glared at the man before her: the unknowable Zero. Damn it, now was not the time to deal with such a nuisance, she had Raaja to seal (she quailed at the thought, the illustrations never really emphasized the immensity of the things). Argh, can her day get any worse?

"How have you been Kel?"

Yep, it could get worse. He wanted to have a freaking conversation with her.

"Damn it, I swear if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were stalking me." Kel watched as the grey clad man shifted, slightly uncomfortable. "You _are_ stalking me?" His face remained blank, his stance unmoved, body totally relaxed but she knew he was guilty. "I can't believe this! You're stalking me! What the bloody hells is wrong with you!?"

"I can't help it; your mismatched eyes are addictive," drawled the imbecile. There was a twinkle in the hazel green of his right eye as the silver of his left sparkled with something that she couldn't quite identify. The same shades as her own pair of peepers, just in the wrong sockets. Kel twitched; something about the man unsettled her. The first time she met him, he had led her to Emrys' resting place. He looked exactly like he did then. She had first met Em eleven years ago, twelve years today (hmm, need to buy something to commemorate that), and Zero still had that damnable silver hair, his features remained smooth and youthful, not to mention slightly feminine.

"Look in a mirror!"

"But they look so much better with your face around them." He started walking and Kel trailed after, though she had no idea why. She stoutly ignored the heat of her cheeks. She failed.

Squeaking with barely contained rage, the mage failed to see the amused look in her irritant's eyes. He still had it.

"What the hell are you doing here anyhow?" she paused, her anger abating for a bit. A slightly hopeful look came to her eye. "You came to help me in my desperate time of need?" Gods above, she had tears of hope and gratitude in her eyes.

"Um, no." Kel deflated. He came to a stop outside of a convenience store. "But I do bring advice." She perked up at that. Advice was good. Then she watched as he calmly walked into the store leaving her to stand outside dumbly, took a broom from a display, went down another aisle, rummaged around in there for a bit before coming back to the counter and casually rung up the broom and permanent marker. He left a hundred dollar bill, didn't take any change and went back out to the stunned Kel. "Remember, names hold power." With that and a cheerful wink, he gave her the broom and marker and promptly disappeared. Insufferable- she paused to think up a vile enough term that could possibly describe that hack and finally settled on- man!

Shoving the marker into a pocket (huh, she had a pocket; go figure) and the broom into a loop on her belt, Kel took off to find harrowing adventure; in other words, giant worm-like earth guardians that want to squish her for getting in their way. Life sucked when you couldn't access the extraordinary mana reserves you're endowed with.

Charging around another corner, the mage came upon an interesting sight. An inept earth mage, a chaos sorceress, and a speed demon with an obvious affiliation with the element of wind were trying to desperately contain the wormy menace. Ain't life grand?

Drawing on the Arc's powers, she stopped, summoned an arrow, struggled slightly to draw the string to ear, and let loose when she did. The golden bolt slamming into the giant serpent didn't go unnoticed by the three combatants as they turned to stare at the mage. The Raaja opted not to stare and instead decided to exact vengeance with extreme prejudice. Hastily, she called a wind element forward.

"Sylphs of Air, sing!"

The slip of paper floated before the sorceress only to segment itself, glowing with eldritch power, before rushing into the atmosphere and forming a solid barrier of air. The Raaja crashed into the wall, hard. Leaping into the air, Kel began firing bolts of gold along the monster' back as she traversed it hastily, a cry half of fear and half of defiance tearing free of her lips. The worm began to thrash, making it that much more difficult to use the bow to any advantage. With a psychic nudge, she retracted the bow, calling forth another spell-card as she drew her sword. With her sword in her right hand and the card in her left, Kel charged, surging forth and cutting along the back as she tried to stay on it. Looking to the card in her left hand she nudged the spell inked onto the surface and drew forth a cleaver. Blinking at the thing, she paused unsure what the heck she was supposed to do with it. Shrugging mentally, she launched the thing into her adversary's back, right before she was bucked off.

Landing on her ass, Kel stood up to only massage the abused seat. Unbeknownst to her, the three other individuals on the scene had their hands full covering her as she recovered. The fear had retreated and she became a fury, a thing of battle, a creature of war. And she was not to be trifled with. A feral growl escaped the snarl of her lips before she turned to her enemy.

Pink hexes flew alongside rubble in an attempt to subdue the beast to no avail. Kid Flash did what he could with the wind he generated, doing his best to act as a decoy. With speed on his side, he figured he made a rather difficult target to hit. They were hopelessly ineffective.

Rearing back, the Raaja roared in impotent rage. Two girls and one guy dropped everything to cover their ears as they tried desperately to save their eardrums. The calm that followed was eerie- and didn't last long. Another one of the beasts reared its head, revealing its presence. More continued to appear. A good twenty of the things made a showing and Kel was starting to grin rather insanely.

"Well, this isn't going to end well," muttered the blond. "Any other bright ideas?" she turned to the pink haired sorceress.

"Don't look at me, I only lead super-villains."

"And you did wonderfully. Now, what's your call?" cajoled the redhead.

"Flirting is not helping the situation."

"Oh, wait for it," called Kel, "it gets better."

The worms began to ooze darkness; their forms blurring and beginning to melt into one another. The monstrosity born of this little procedure spanned blocks and was well on its way to swamping the whole of Jump City (this is an exaggeration. Let's leave it at it was very, very big.). Three jaws promptly fell from the clenched-and-ready-to-fight position to the less inspiring but nonetheless uncommon never-seen-this-before-in-life-but-it-sure-as-hell-will-be-the-last-thing-we-see position. Kid Flash summed it up eloquently.

"Oh crap."

"Oh crap is right," declared the earth mage as she leaped into the air with sword in hand. Calling to the power imbued in the blade she transformed it into a fearsome claymore. Swinging the weapon with a whoop of delight, she rushed into the melee with abandon. Cackling, she swung and lunged, again and again.

The other three involved in the battle were busily dodging the rest of the Raaja as its body churned the ground, shifting it. Odd blobs of energy orbited the main body and obliterated all in its path.

Terra looked over at Kid Flash and remembered how he had gotten her friends and delivered them to safety. After that, she and Jinx had gotten into a rather long and involved conversation about betrayals in which Flash ended the whole thing by reminding them of the thing they had to deal with. Then all hell broke loose as the three super teens tried their level best to contain the situation. As it were, they didn't meet up with much success.

Now they are witness to a (crazy) chick swinging an over-sized sword at a way, way over-sized creature. Not very reassuring, especially with that cackle of hers. It didn't help matters much when the blade snapped in twain.

Suddenly the fighting came to a standstill. The crazy chick stood, frozen with only her hair waving in the breeze as she reached for the broom in her belt (the other three wondered absently at its presence, but taking in what they'd just heard, it probably made more sense than not). The worm was quiet, head (or whatever end passed for a head) upturned as if tasting the air. Eyes (or whatever passed for eyes in this situation) met, and a nod from each followed. An accord had been reached, a temporary alliance. Kel alighted upon the earth guardian's head, and the Raaja took off.

A silence enveloped the three who remained; until a blond broke it that is.

"I think we missed something here."

"Shut up and get us after them already!" the pink haired sorceress demanded. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she didn't like it one bit. "Quickie, after them."

A red and yellow blur disappearing into the distance answered her. Jinx should have been a little reassured, having a handle on the situation (sort of) but she wasn't.

-IV-

Someone had disturbed the Noctix. Emrys watched disinterestedly, the runic bowl of clear water fed his eyes with an update of the events. Well, this was an unexpected turn; those Titans were troublesome. Perhaps it was time he had gotten involved.

"Master,"

He turned to see Cora and Ceres. They continued once his attention was on them, though he turned his eyes back to the reflective surface.

"The vase is complete. All it requires now is a touch of magic to prime it."

Emrys grunted distractedly.

"Will you need a spell kit?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure." When the soul-less left, Zero stepped forward; an amused air about his gray countenance. "Did you really think it necessary to agitate _that_ cycle within her?"

"It was necessary." Same old Zero, short and to the point. Emrys turned to the standing, slightly hunched figure. Tawny eyes glared fiercely toward mismatched orbs that resembled another so well that it was frankly uncanny. There was a connection between those two, the only question was what kind.

"You know," the wizard pushed himself up from his table, eyes still trained to the scrying water, "you never really did introduce yourself."

"I told you to call me Zero." The words came smoothly, dripping like warmed honey. Em frowned as he went about rummaging a spell kit together. Cora and Ceres were not to touch spell components. Much as he loved the pair, they had an unsettling tendency towards making things go boom, sometimes intentionally, more often not. He still shuddered at the memory of the spork.

"Names and conversations should reveal character and allow for comparisons and parallels. None of these are forthcoming in our conversations." Zero shrugged.

"Maybe you're just not listening hard enough."

"What do you want, Zero? I know you brought Kel to me, what do you want with either of us?"

Silence answered the query. Emrys sighed. He knew that if he turned to look for the elusive man, he'd find him long gone. He still wasn't sure if Zero _was_ a man. Grumbling, he packed what he needed. Dealing with that green sprout was going to be a headache and a half, and that wasn't including the four others that came with the package, ready and quite willing to tear him apart. He valiantly tried to ignore the other three that Kel had ran into. A man needs room to hope sometimes; this was one of those times.

-V-

Beast Boy had trouble seeing- and hearing for that matter. Maybe it was the blood leaking out of his eyes like tears and he was quite sure it wasn't normal to have the life giving liquid coming out of his ears. To say the least, it was uncomfortable. It also made his head swim, so that was undesirable. It did have Raven hovering over him, so maybe there was a silver lining to this situation. Not much of one, but still there. She was babbling about brain damage and how she'd reanimate him just to kill him again if he even considered dying on her. Good ol' trusty Rae, it's not like she's never seen a guy leaking blood from his eyes and ears. Oh wait, she didn't. Huh, if he didn't know any better, he'd say she was panicking. But Raven didn't do panicky and the world was getting fuzzy.

"Garfield Mark Logan, if you faint on me, I swear I'll drag your soul out of heaven and send it to hell!"

Noctourne was concerned, its- host, for lack of a better word, was deteriorating at a much faster clip than anticipated. Adapting meta-DNA must have been more demanding then at first projected. The evolutionary restraint spells must still have a much firmer hold than anticipated and, as such, becoming an auxiliary fighter manifested in this plane must be taxing. Noctourne could feel the hold on Lord Despairedus slipping.

_I can not stay for long._ The telepathic message from the summoned only confirmed what was only suspected before. _Your host is fast fading; augment the shadow dancer's powers and retreat. Dismiss me at once._

The master eyed the summoned as it continued to batter at the demon's defenses. The contract between them didn't allow for the summoner to endanger the summoned in such a way. Wearily, the summoned was dismissed. Drawing on the power of the shadows around it to come forth, Noctourne engaged the demon directly (with magic).

It was an odd battle with invisible swords and spears casting shadows and piercing flesh, or at least tried to. The thing about casting shadows is that there need be objects to obscure the light, and with magic, many rules were just tossed out the window for future reference. This was rather tiring, so Noctourne turned to methods other than shadow casting.

Objects no longer moved and dictated the shadows' movements but the other way around. As shadows grew larger, so did the objects grow smaller as they flew into air (toward the source of light), only to grow large again as the shadow cast grew smaller (away from the source of light). Shadow manipulation. This was peppered with a healthy dose of shadow casting, but those came in short, sporadic bursts. It was getting harder and having to dodge attacks in turn was not helping.

Wykkyd had always been one to manipulate space. He was a teleporter, of course he manipulated space. However, what most people don't know about space is exactly how closely related it was to time. They knew the two were related, they knew they could manipulate space, why they didn't consider manipulating time was beyond him. Raven did and could. He didn't have that luxury.

It was rare having the ability to stop time, to reset things to the way they were. It was also a taboo. No one wanted to deal with time travel. It was messy and usually when people tried to clean up the messes they made via time travel, it only made things messier. So Wykkyd wasn't one to dabble in time traveling, only time-space magic. Still, it would have been nice to have the option of time travel, which, unfortunately, a half-breed (#$ Raven!) could do while he couldn't (#$ing Raven). Sure, she only froze time, and only reset it once, but she could travel through time if she _wanted_ to. It was a matter of principle, just because he wouldn't use it didn't mean that he didn't want the option. It's about the choice after all.

Snapping the space around his opponent, he tried to decapitate the robed figure to his unending frustration. That man was insufferable. Spitting fire and cursing in the demon tongue, his attacks only ended in futility.

Gizmo along with the rest of the Hive were wondering what the hell was going on. After all, it wasn't an everyday occurrence to wake up in the middle of a battle between powerhouses of this magnitude. He summed up his feelings on the matter quite nicely.

"Holy scuzz munchin' pig-swilling bile of barf-moochers."

"Darn tootin'." Numerous. Always with the last word. The diminutive criminal glared at his cohort.

Cavall didn't bother, still in female form, with pale locks reaching her waist. She could feel her mistress approaching. The Titans were still trying to make pock shots at Wykkyd. Raven was tending to Beast Boy, the green teen was definitely out of the loop and fading fast. He just didn't get any breaks here, did he? Comfortably ensconced in a corner, they were largely safe. The ward that Cavall had erected about the pair helped with that since the sorceress was largely distracted with her healing magic. It was probably the only reason that the boy was still alive.

Cyborg was launching sonic cannon offensives alongside disks (with three distinct flavors: razor sharp shreddies, freeze-bang galore, and flaming jalapeno), birdarangs (explosive and otherwise) and starbolts. These did nothing of merit and just had them running around dodging crap not even meant for them. It was rather humbling.

Cavall looked around the library basement and decided that it was a surprise that the place was still standing. With the rumble being thrown down here, library should have been nothing but rubble by now with anyone dumb enough to stay effectively dead and buried. This fact bothered Cavall. No ordinary construct could be that resilient. None. Not even magical edifices were that sturdy. Opening her senses, she tried to pinpoint what power was holding this place up and found the shock of her life.

They were sitting on a ley line. Not just a ley line, a nexus point where the lines intersected. Power here was amplified to the point where it was, quite literally, beyond recognition. Ley lines, dragon lines, veins of the earth. All of them mean the same thing. Power flowed from nature, but it had to be directed somehow. Leys were the answer. They were where power flowed on its way to saturate the world. And they were sitting on top of a nexus point. Oh dear.

Cavall turned to the battle at hand, at the only battle worthy of attention (at the moment anyway). The powers flying here were monumental and sitting on top of an intersection for leys wasn't a grand idea. Ignoring the spectacular fireworks display (the shadows really made it something special); she turned her attention towards the central ward in this place. Taking a peek, she did the papery equivalent of a gulp and desperately wished she could wet herself; at least then she would have something to distract her.

The Noctix; that cursed tome of forbidden knowledge was sealed here. She grumbled as she shifted into androgyny. Stupid Tirgon, a headache he remains even after he was evicted from this plane. That twit was going to get it if they ever met. With a flex of space, the warping light kind of gave it away, the book appeared. Wykkyd grinned, Raven was momentarily distracted from Beast Boy (then she was helplessly looking from book to boy. Decisions, decisions), and everyone else kind of stared at the thing with not much to contribute.

Then things got worst.

With a resounding crash, the roof (or what passed for a roof in the basement) sported a hole and a worm thing with his mistress riding on it appeared. It took Cavall a few moments to figure it out, but eventually, it concluded that, yes, there was a humongous monstrosity before it that was called Raaja.

"I didn't sign up for this shit, sir!" Private Hive. Cavall had been wondering when they were just going to cave and say something along those lines.

**Chapter End**

Author's Note: Review, comment, complain about how I can't write action scenes, whatever. Give me something to work with! Speculations shall be read and might actually be used (if I could incorporate it into the main story line). Ain't life grand like that?

* * *


	7. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Did anyone actually miss me? No, seriously, anyone. -sigh- I guess it's to be expected, but to actually have it happen… that's sad man. Hell, you don't even have to tell me you like this thing. Just tell me why it sucks ass. That's all I ask. Review peeps, it'll make my day.

Start: 5/30/2007

Finished: 6/30/2007

**Chapter the Sixth: Resolutions- Sort Of. **

She noticed it.

Of course she noticed it. It wasn't something that you could just '_not_' notice. The absence of fear, the sweet thrill that coursed through her veins, the hot spice of adrenaline soaking her mind; it was impossible to miss. The absolute terror that she had to work through when she first began hunting the Raaja had disappeared altogether, like it was never there to begin with. Now she was the definition of warrior goddess, a vengeful fury, power, strength, _confidence_. It sent her into ecstasy, a fierce happiness that she couldn't get enough of. And the only thing she had to do to keep it coming was to keep- on- moving.

Kel landed in a low crouch, one leg fully extended, the other curled beneath her. The broom, bristles, shaft, permanent ink and all, ran parallel with the extended limb. The mad grin on her face never faltered as she raced toward- well, she couldn't really describe it, but it was _some_thing; all awkward looking extremities and- were those tentacles? It didn't matter, though, all that mattered was that it was something to destroy, something to hit, something for her to keep the rush with. Oh gods, her world was the rush, everything else was second.

With the broom's bristles aimed toward the floor she surged forward, a throaty bark of laughter escaping to masquerade as a battle cry. Vengeful goddess, fury, Valkyrie; she was all of these things now and she wasn't sure how she would stop. She wasn't even sure she wanted to.

-I-

Terra was sure she'd never hated anyone more than she hated Jinx at the moment. The catty girl just had to pull on the bit and Terra never liked being steered… not anymore. And she just won't. Shut. Up!

"Can't you go any faster?"

Terra gritted her teeth, reminding herself that she wasn't going to toss this- this witch off. She owed the Titans, this city a debt that she could never hope to repay in full but she had to try anyways. It was all that's left. She had tried to evade her debt; she had tried to leave it all behind. But the bill was here now, and she had to cough up the dirt as best she could. That meant, she sighed, no killing teammates, no matter how despicable and god's thrice annoying!

"I'm going, as fast, as I can." If you ignored the blue eyed glare, the tense shoulders (calves, back, footing…), and the fact that the words came through gritted teeth and haltingly at that, Terra thought she did exceptionally well when it came to masking her irritation. Well, at least she got brownie points with Raven for trying. She cringed at the thought of the empath. Oh, she really did mess it up didn't she? No one wants a half demonic girl mad at them: especially when said girl is on her monthlies.

She saw the red and yellow blur careening towards them, easily keeping pace with her boulder, and decided that super-speed was a decidedly awesome power. Man if she could get so much done in such a relatively short amount of time… it'd almost be like immortality without the whole forever thing. Neat…

"OkayIknowwheretheyarebutsomereallymessedupshitisgoingdown," he looked at the girls and saw them both looking down at him blankly. Super-speed. Frustrated and not knowing quite how to express it adequately, the Junior Flash took a deep breath- and let it go. Kid Flash sighed. "I did it again, didn't I?"

Jinx patted him on the shoulder. "You'll get the hang of it- eventually." Flash sighed, moping a bit as he absently kicked up some dirt with the tip of his red boot, still running.

Terra stared at the interaction between the sitting cat and running boy. What the- "Hello!? Giant worm thing-y to take care of!? Am I the only one that remembers!?"

The pair looked at each other, then turned to geomancer, who had a tic going on her forehead (read: multiple tics), then looked away. Jinx coughed, slightly embarrassed. Really need to keep the gooey stuff to when they're off duty.

"Okay, get on the rock," Terra took personal offense to this (it was a frickin' boulder!), "and give a report. Terra, fly us their and try to listen." Another tic formed at that implication. "We know how it is with blonds." (1) Terra was practically frothing at that. Jinx was smiling sadistically and Flash was hoping that the cat-fight would take place after they saved the city… and that he could get front row seats. (2)

The blond geomancer took off without further ado; knees crouched slightly to lower her center of gravity. Pouring on the speed, she wondered if she should just pull out all the brakes and give the witch whiplash. Deciding against that, since she wanted to listen and not to mention contribute when they got to the whole mess downtown, she turned her attention to the debriefing and hoped she didn't add another life to the List before they got there. Flinching at the thought, she took off.

-II-

Emrys looked over his spell components. They were nice, neat and very well organized, in his eyes anyway. To the casual observer, they made absolutely no sense. That would mostly be due to the fact that they didn't have any magical training and didn't understand and couldn't see magic in the first place. For those that could see magic, they would make even less sense. Emrys was a power unto himself, and as he watched the spell paraphernalia marching about and reorganizing themselves as he saw fit, he wondered at what came first, magic or the universe? Such a puzzler, that one was. Not like the chicken or the egg thing. There had to be some perks to conversing with the fates, and they did know a thing or two when it came to past fates.

Looking down at the kit outlined before him, he shifted his glasses up the hook he called a nose. It looked about right, he mused. Absently, he waved a carry sack over, the pouch lid opened and yawning as it waited to be filled. He treated his equipment right, and so they always aimed to please. (3) With another complacent gesture, his assembled kit marched its way into the pouch he selected for this occasion. With that he slung the bag's strap over his head and onto his shoulder as the bag itself rested comfortably on the opposite hip. And if anyone called it a purse, heads will roll…

"Master, do not forget the vase." The cheerful reminder bubbled up from Cora, hands held behind her back, smiling, as Ceres happily presented the ceramic article to him, arms fully extended and in his face with the thing.

With a long suffering sigh and a roll of his eyes, he took the thing single handedly, charged it with magic (a nice flash of light came with that action) and stuffed the all too large pottery haphazardly into the carry sack. No irregular shape reported the urn's hiding place. Scratching at his chin, he tried to remember if he forgot anything.

"Alright, you two, remember not to play with the stuff in the shop. Attend to any of the customers that come in, but don't let them purchase any merchandise. You both know the policy. Don't ignore the international outposts, and remember, assume that anything you touch could explode. We don't want a repeat of the spork incident…." He shook his head at that memory as he tried to massage the migraine away. How they did _that_ with a spork, of all things, he'd never know and frankly didn't want to know. He shuddered at the thought of a repeat. Gods forbid.

The twins grumbled at the reminder. Sheesh, one little incident and they never trust you again. What has the world come to? It's not like they ended a whole civilization or anything, just sort of opened the eyes of a lot of spork followers… don't ask.

"Okay, prime the defenses and everything should be a go." The wizard was at the gate. Turning, he muttered an incantation priming said defenses. With a quick glance about to check over his handiwork, he nodded and headed off trusting his feet to take him to Kel. That girl had so much magic on her it was impossible for him to not be drawn to her. Like called to like, after all.

A nervous feeling began to claw at his stomach. Kel wasn't supposed to be able to call upon her magics. Sure, manipulating magic that was already present was a simple matter (the cards), anyone could do that (hence the many quests by knights for magic swords and their ilk), but Kel had Named that broom. That called on magic and magic called on Power. To change the nature of something so radically- Emrys quickened his pace. He didn't know what Zero's game was but he didn't trust the entity (he hesitated to call Zero a man) as far as he could throw him.

-III-

The rundown, concrete grey structures rumbled uneasily. Nervously.

Quiet. Then another rumble and another groan. A keen whining picked up and, in a moment's time, crescendoed to an explosion of eardrum shattering proportions.

Grey edifices that have long forgotten what it is to be white (to be pristine and proud) collapsed with a relieved groan. Dust rolled forth to preserve the dignity of these fallen giants. The sighs of pebbles clattered noisily to the earth, only to be drowned out by the cacophony of singeing air and guttural challenges.

Wykkyd tried not to notice the sounds of chaos all about him. He succeeded and quickly wished he hadn't. As distracting as it was for him to think with the ruckus clogging his ears it wasn't half as bad as the jolts of pain shooting up his left arm. Satan be blessed (Lucifer hated that, bless his black heart), he hated gothicly attired superpeople (he pointedly ignored the fact that was one these gothicly attired individuals). He didn't know what that freak-job did to Raven but she had made short work of his ring with painstaking ease. Then- and this was the worse part of it all in his humble opinion- then she ignored him completely to chase the Noctix.

He had been snubbed for a book (4). Leather, paper, binding and ink. He supposed handling three Titans would be preferable to four, but damned that stung.

He tried to get his head back in the game; nearly losing the thing to a titanium fist would facilitate such a response. Ducking under the stream of white blue light, he wondered why it was that a sonic cannon would have properties that looked suspiciously laser cannon-like. The light screamed laser, but Frankenstein called it a sonic-cannon which would imply sound. Hmm, maybe the frequency was so high and focused that it caused the molecules in the air to vibrate to a higher energy state, thus shedding the blast white blue radiance. Huh, wonder what would happen if-

A steel tipped toe came crashing into his solar plexus. He really had to pay attention here.

With a nice showy flash of the cape and he was a ways away, trying to catch his breath among the rubble, body doubled over as he wheezed as silently as possible.

Looking up he mourned the untimely death of his wheezing time, killed tragically in the line of duty by the glowing green gaze of a certain redhead. Half the populace of Jump openly drooled over the Tamaranean princess but if they ever saw her as she was now, they'd think twice about fantasizing about her. The orange toned warrior was hefting a chunk of concrete that was easily ten times her own body mass and weighing at over a ton. The fury burning in her eyes, the angry curl to her lips, the decidedly unhappy slopes to her brow, that was what really peed Kyd's pants.

Suddenly his view of the angry alien was obscured by the concrete that was once in her hands. He distantly noted the grunt of exertion. Okay, one gigantic piece of rock to dodge, not too troublesome.

The rock that was once only crawling at him (thank you very much Hive conditioning) suddenly became many rocks with emerald bolts of energy dancing in between the debris and raining on his parade.

It wasn't easy anymore. The green stuff came in fast and heavy, forcing him to dance as he dodged the things. It may have been random, but she was pockmarking the edges, cutting off escape and keeping him dancing all at once. Lousy trigger happy Tamaraneans! This also meant no time to teleport. And then the rocks came in.

This just wasn't his day.

-IV-

Cavall had decided to forego keeping the Hive prisoners; they were small fry in the grand scheme of things. However, the paper humanoid was irked. How had the green one come under the _construct's_ care?

Sure, Raven had glared at it (and to be honest, it was a frightening glare all told) but that by all means should not have cowed the mighty construct. The humiliation...

With a resigned sigh its attention turned back toward the struggle for dominance. The dark sorceress had joined its mistress and the Raaja in containing the Noctix. The Noctix, being a tome of 'evil' knowledge had taken on a more- durable form. Currently it was giving Kel hell with arcs of ink that were sharp enough to rend steel.

Keltaek for her part was twisting out of steeling rending way as best she could. She'd already tapped her arsenal of spell tags and was left with the broom as her only means of defense and offense. However, she was not to be taken lightly with her 'limitation'. Cavall winced again as the cleaning implement once again sent a hail of debris into the air, leaving devastation in the wake of the missed strike. There was a violence in Kel that was- unnatural. Cavall hoped that this stint in bloodlust was only temporary.

On the flip side of things, Raven seemed all too calm. She floated, hanging in the air, stationary as opposed to Kel's flitting about. Shadows undulated and pulsed almost peacefully if not for their violent intent upon the Noctix. The darkness seemed to caress the tome. Cavall was half tempted to fall asleep just watching her ministration and they weren't even directed towards him. A chill whipped through leaves of paper; Cavall didn't sleep. Ever.

The Raaja had burrowed into the earth, its mass inescapable, its movement- relentless. There wasn't much else to say about that, except perhaps brutal. Stone shouldn't be able to do half the things they were doing under the guardian's direction.

The Noctix was a book. It was leather, paper, binding and ink. At the same time, it was so much more that just that. The abstract infinity of a book became quite literal with the tome. Luckily, the binding of the book kept it relatively containable. Fighting a mass with little to no trace in way of concrete shape or form was rather inconvenient, to put it mildly. There was no true weak spot to exploit. Most attacks left little to no impression on it. The thing was only stunned for a short breath when anyone brained it especially hard. After shaking it off, it'd surge forth on the offensive once more.

So the battle plan became relatively simple: force the gods cursed thing into the ground and, with two earth elementals present, seal it. It was crude but it was all they had.

-V-

Robin had a good glare. He was, after all was said and done, taught by the legendary dark knight, a dark knight that had been famed for his legendary glaring. It was to be expected, frankly, that the boy wonder could glare anyone down, having been coached and all. But Robin himself thought it was much more intimidating to be glared down by Superman than Batman. It was probably because you could actually see the Kryptonian's eyes, not to mention the fact that Superman rarely glared, making it that much worse for you if you're on the receiving end of it. Batman's foes have all kinda gotten inoculated of the intimidation that was Batman's glare; the only reason it still worked its charm was because he always followed through with what his glare promised (except in the case of Catwoman, she usually got the slap on the wrist treatment that bordered on police brutality from the uniformed servants of the law). But the point was, Robin had a good glare. He took the middle road of his two idols, glaring when appropriate and not when it wasn't. It made him thriftier with the whole glaring business, what with not dispensing with it on every crook out there, but not penny pinchin' them either. Just right for intimidation, thought the boy wonder proudly.

This, however, did not change the fact that Robin was glaring at no one in particular. He was wearing his special glare, the one reserved for when something wasn't going his way. He wore the same glare whenever he faced Slade or after he bungled something, which, he was proud to admit, didn't happen all that often. But now, a watered down super-villain with teleportation had handed their collective asses to them. Oh the humiliation.

But that wasn't the point: how the hell did he come by such power? Robin scowled as his mind immediately jumped to Slade. Grimacing, he continued to survey the (ruined) landscape. Toppled buildings, rubble, wrecked statues and smoking ruins; but there was no caped menace. Absently checking his arsenal, he found he was still well padded in that department. Pulling a face at the fact that his mind was still wired to blame everything on Slade, he reluctantly added it to the list of things he had to talk to Raven about. It was funny, between her and Cyborg, they made up the team's much needed therapists. They talked to each other and everyone else, except Beast Boy (he talked to Silkie and actually found it therapeutic; the rest of the team shrugged at this- to each his own, after all). Sighing at the unproductive search, he reached for his communicator called for a short brusque, "Report."

The comm.-unit crackled before a bubbly voice that never failed to call to mind flowing red tresses, picturesque emeralds, and copper expanses of skin answered- "No sightings from the air, Friend Robin."

"Negative on all spectrums, man." The abnormally serious voice from the android alerted the skilled vigilante to the metal man's anxiety. He was probably worried about their green friend, mused Robin. He frowned as his attention shifted to the diminutive changeling. The morph had either been holding out on the team or suddenly had an awesome leap in ability. Well, no worries, just another thing to worry about heaped onto his plate.

"Let's get back to BB and Raven," the casual wording of the suggestion didn't change the fact that it was a command. "It looked as if they were taking care of another head-case. We'll lend support. Move out, Titans."

A moment after the three of them had made their way down to the tussle below, the space next to where Robin had been began undulate, twisting to reveal their wayward quarry. Wykkyd desperately sucked in air. There was a reason why you don't store living things in pocket spaces; a limited atmosphere was one of them. With his breath restored, he began rooting around for a place to hide. He still had a shot at retrieving the Noctix.

-VI-

Terra was uncomfortable. The three of them had had an- encounter with the Hive Five (it was four actually) and some shield guy. Jinx had been real quiet after that and Kid Flash had done his best to console the hex witch and making very little progress. The geomancer had seen the way they had looked at the witch: Mammoth and Gizmo were a mix of angry resentment and- understanding, See-more had this quiet air about him (kinda like a kicked puppy), Numerous had made some tactless comment about a 'traitoress-whore' (to which Terra had nonchalantly flicked a pebble to his red clothed noggin), and Private Hive had a reproachful look plastered on him.

Well, if this wasn't the shittiest way to build comraderie, thought the earth mover with a hint of dark amusement. It was so typical that she'd be the only one to start a bond on such faulty foundations and, if the trend holds up, build a comfortable repartee. There was that run of good foundation she'd found amongst the Titans, but she'd always found it hard to maintain one of those. Those were scary. They were precious, expensive, and she'd worry them to death or die from the anxiety of it all. With a faulty foundation, it was more- laid-back. She didn't worry because it _didn't start out_ expensive; it was made that way from the dirt and stone she had moved in to make it so. It wasn't spectacular, but it was hers, made by her own efforts; and it wasn't shiny, precious, or placed on a pedestal. It was- grounded. And that made her comfortable. Well, looks like she was never going to be in a relationship. With a mentality like _that_, she shook her head, she was so screwed.

"Hey," the pink haired girl turned to her, "you alright?" the earth mover asked gruffly. Well, it was a start.

"I will be." The answer was short and tried to be snappy but didn't quite achieve the 'snap'.

Terra took another breath and focused her attention on the boulder they were on, softening the rock cushioning the other girl's rear. Pink cat eyes turned to the earth mover's face as the pilot firmly kept her features aloof. The blue eyes were trained firmly to their destination, and thus, missed the thanks that were conveyed by eyes alone before the witch propped herself comfortably against Kid's shoulder.

-VII-

Raven was used to- not exactly fearing but being wary about the darkness that she wielded so well, so familiarly. It was like a snake charmer handling a cobra, familiar but there was certain distance, a detachment. Now, now the darkness soothed her, like a familiar blanket, cloaking her and muffling the pain that radiated off the world around her. Now she commanded the shadows with an ease that was so- so natural. It was like an extension of herself and not at the same time.

Her cloak had been dyed a midnight blue from the darkness, she noted. Absently she turned back to the battle at hand. This disinterest lead to calmer execution, but it also left her easily distracted. Oh well, worry later, take care of gloop thing now. Gloop thing, ugh, that was something Beast Boy would say.

The Noctix was contorting itself in ever more disturbing forms while somehow still resembling something simian in shape. Dodging flying rocks, Black Tentacles of Doom(TM), and a paper fan and broom tandem combination, the very much animated tome was in a pretty pickle. In every direction it turned, something would thwart its escape. How utterly annoying. Finally, it flung itself into the air at the desperate opening in their trinity from hell. Weaving ink and sheet alike, it constructed wings of sorts to keep it airborne. The situation was growing increasingly annoying, and the tome decided to make a decisive blow, but how? That was when the Raaja manifested itself, ready and rearin' to go. If books could grin, the Noctix would have.

The inhuman _thing_ flung itself on the earth guardian, tendrils of paper pulp and ink snaking out to puncture the worm at various points and melding with it. A thunderous roar that shook the very foundation of the earth itself came crashing out of the Raaja. Raven flung her powers out, protecting her friends from the onslaught as best she could.

Cavall looked on grimly as Kel desperately wielded the harisen, a paper fan, and broom, desperately trying to fend off the malevolent tome. The fight had been going so well, but not anymore. Shadows moved to shield the green boy under Cavall's care and the construct absently noted the presence of the other Titans and the fact that they too had been cocooned in darkness. This was bad on so many levels. For one thing, the Magids were going to so have their collective bacons for this. If the situation were to escalate, and Cavall couldn't quite see how it wouldn't, then the whole world was in peril of being completely screwed, and not just cleansed as opposed to just the Raaja acting on its own. Well, that's that then. They were screwed.

A paper fan came flying at the lupine/human and merged seamlessly into its body. Since the thing came from him in the first place, it was only natural. The broom that followed, though, neatly thwacked him on the head. What the- what was she doing?

Kel had that look in her eye that told you she was going to do something incredibly stupid/brave (it depended on the outcome; if it was a success then it's brave, if it wasn't a success then it's stupid). The seals on her body, all twelve of them, began to make their collective presence known. Flaring up and off of Kel (they were still connected to the girl by a string of magic though) they began to form a circle of magic in the air. With an unnatural ease, she changed their shape to suit her needs. Flinging the magic out, she wrapped the seals about the infected the guardian and pulled it, infected beast and all, inside of herself. Falling to her hands and knees, the once golden seal had turned into a distorted sort of grey before wrapping itself about the sorceress. The seals began to overflow, marking the skin about her body. The skin itself took on a pallid, sickly hue. Her whole frame shook and she desperately heaved nothing onto the ground. The sounds coming from her mouth were a cross between agonized frustration and wails of doomed despair.

That bought some time at least, with a grunt Cavall turned to acknowledge the entrance of its other master. Emrys, in all of his wizardry glory, had stepped into the scene (actually, he stepped off of some sort of giant avian, obviously animated by his magics; he'd decided to speed his way here). His left hand came up to absently elevate his specs. His right dug into the pouch at his waist to pull up one spell component or another and tossed it absentmindedly at his apprentice. The spider-like thing attached itself to Kel's back and phased its eight legs into the infected mage, digging and rooting inside of her. Emrys turned to Cavall when he finally spotted it.

"Report, please," the absentmindedness to his tone not waning a nudge.

"The one called Beast Boy has overexerted himself," the lupine replied. "He'll be needing that spell of yours now."

"I can't do it alone, you know. No earth magics and all that. We'll have to wait for her to arrive then. Anything else?" The sorcerer turned to his pouch once more, rooting through it for something or other. Dragging various totems of power out, he began arranging them in a haphazardly patterned circle around the green changeling. Lastly, he dragged a piece chalk out over the relatively smooth surface of the floor, tracing out runes of power.

Raven watched as the complex patterns weave themselves into a spell tapestry, reinforcing the incantation they were to use. She was oddly calm throughout the whole ordeal. Her eyes turned to the changeling himself and she absently reached for her empathic healing. Taking the pain into herself she healed the injuries to his mind as best as she was able to, relieving him of the stress that was killing him. It wasn't a permanent solution as it started to build again, but the point was to buy time and ease pain. It appears that his ability to acquire another's meta capabilities taxed his brain directly. While not damaging it in the usual sense, it did push its limits. How that was possible was a mystery to her, but then and again, his powers were still a mystery to scientific and mystic communities both.

"Who are we waiting for?" the dark girl asked.

"It depends on whoever is quicker," came the reply. Emrys squinted at the markings on the floor. "If Kel recovers in time, which I doubt will happen, she'll be helping us. If not, then the blonde flying that rock (at this point in time Terra screamed 'It's a boulder!' angrily, scaring her passengers witless) will have to do. I will, of course, have to awaken her latent abilities for this- exercise. Hmm, then she'll have to be trained afterwards…" and he trailed off, mumbling to himself as he continued to work on the spell.

Raven blinked. Awaken?

A crash boomed out and a boulder along with rubble came falling. Dust choked the air again and light streamed down. A blonde, a redhead and bubblegum pink-head made their presence known- the back up has arrived.

The Titans stared at her, well, the ones that were awake anyhow. It was hard not to stare, so they did.

Kid Flash looked around, noticed the tense atmosphere and decided to do what he did best (since the green one was out).

"Hey peeps, how's life going for you all?" and of course he was largely ignored.

"F-friend Terra?" the hesitation was expected, but the geomancer winced all the same to hear it from the Tamaranean.

Her musings were interrupted by some brunette who was suddenly making her pain very well known. Some eight legged, armed, _appendage-d_ thing was pulling a book out of her back. And it wasn't one of those thin paperback deals, it was a freakin' tome! Her back was arched, and some guy, a rugged looking nerd (kinda cute…) went over and started brushing her hair out of her face, muttering soothingly, calming her. When the thing finally finished pulling the book out, it wrapped itself around it and flattened itself to the surface. It looked like a lock of some sort, but she couldn't be too sure. The brunette was panting and looked on the verge of passing out, but before she did she gasped out-

"Save them."

"Of course," answered the lanky nerd as he rearranged the unconscious girl. "You did pay the fee." Once he made sure his charge was comfortable, then he turned to Terra, addressing her directly.

"Well, it looks like you'll have to do. Come here girl child."

Terra instinctively obeyed. No one else moved, still too stunned to do much. KF wasn't sure what was going on, but decided to not risk interrupting. Crossfire, not good.

Emrys lifted his right hand, index and middle finger extended, and carefully touched her forehead. Gently, he trickled his power into her mind, searching for the magic underneath her geo-kinetic abilities. Those had developed from the buried magic; it was a common occurrence when magic is just pent up. Power was meant to be used and exercised, if not it could drive one mad. So, in lieu of that, they sometimes manifested as a psychic gift/burden. There were gifted psychics; most of the mystic community had agreed that they were a branch of magic that adhered to most scientific rules. They just have to ask where the power came from for the mystic community to jump all over it. But that was unimportant. Right now, he had to awaken Terra's magic- and there it was.

"Wait, you're going to have her come into contact with Beast Boy?" the underlying incredulity in Raven's tone was heard by all. The 'core' Titans knew she was reeling with emotion now if it was apparent to even those who didn't know her well.

"Well, either that or leave him to die. It's your choice." With that, Emrys went to Cavall and left him with an urn.

Raven mulled over the words from the sorcerer, Rage gnashing at her bonds. Her emoti-clone wanted the traitor (Rage used much more colorful language, of course) dead, and her blood in their shared gullet. But Raven had trained herself to be logical, to not be ruled by her emotions. 'sides, the fact that a certain changeling's life depended upon earth magic carried the vote in the decision making process. With a growl, she nodded her ascent.

Terra was confused. Confuzzled. Completely bewildered. What in blazes was going on here? Magic? She had magic? Wicked cool- I think, thought the geomancer warily. Absently she followed the nerd's, Emrys', instruction. Drawing on magic was different from being geo-kinetic. It was like her powers before had been but a taste of what was to come. This, this was a new high. It was like she had only been puffing the cheap stuff and was finally introduced to the 400 dollar a gram brand. And seriously, it made all the difference. The power flowed through her, and she idly wondered if it was the same for Raven. If so, she had no idea how she was able to resist using it. It felt better than _sin_. Damn.

Raven, on the other hand, was marking the progress of the spell, watching the magics weaving into each other, and cocooning around the changeling. Once more, he was hidden from view, once more he was shrouded in power. However, this time, she was drawn into him. Terra was too high to notice, but Raven was not. Emrys soothed her wariness and guided her into Beast Boy.

On the surface was Beast Boy. Well, it was more of a jungle, safari thing. It was every wild thing that has ever existed or could exist. The forms that he took on the most were prominent, but every animal, every creature dwelt within him. Even creatures she was sure wasn't of this earth were there and some creatures of myth and dream. However, quite conspicuously missing was the Beast at this level. It did not dwell here.

Emrys went about ordering the place to his specification. Chains of words and intent scrolled across the savanna, keeping things in check. Some of the creatures were quieted, none were banished. Wards and miscellaneous spells were put into place to control Beast Boy's growth in the arts. Hopefully, he would be able to master his gift. There was something here that was strange, but Raven couldn't quite put her hand on it.

Once done, they burrowed deeper into his being and came upon the Beast. He guarded the boundary bordering Gar and the Shadow. It looked at them for a moment's time before silently allowing them passage.

In the Shadow's realm, Raven moved the darkness at Emrys' direction. The ink was too dark for her 'eyes' to truly see with. But there was nothing to fear. She felt the same shadowy presence that had come to their aide. Raven nudged it, inquiring about a name. It answered with Nocturne. It was a soft darkness, a comforting presence that offered peace and tranquility. Raven's mind began to wander, but she forcefully put it back to task. Again they moved on.

Bordering the divide this time was a winged wraith of some sort. Ragged strips of cloth bandaged the wing like appendage that protruded from it back. Her face was hooded, her garb warlike. She too observed them unblinkingly and then allowed them passage.

This ones presence was coiled tightly. Wound so far, it was the size of a pinprick. However, its presence was overwhelming. Terra became even more intoxicated if that was even possible. Power compressed to this point should not have been possible. Going in, Terra began reshaping this part of the spell under Em's guidance. Raven, however, began poking around for a name. It would have been much better if she hadn't, then again, we do want an interesting story…

The Shadow had been half asleep, so its presence in the 'system' that was Beast Boy wasn't all that 'foreign', translation, it didn't disrupt the cognitive faculties that was BB. However, this presence was buried deep. Asleep. When Raven started poking around, she started waking the presence up.

Emrys, for his part, noticed this. He knew what would happen if Raven woke this child from her slumber; he just didn't care enough to stop it. Besides, no one was going to die, so it wasn't exactly bad. But things will start getting interesting, so he didn't bother. All he did was instruct Terra to work around it and set up even more precautions. After all, Kel had paid quite well to save this lots life, he'd get some serious crap from the girl if he didn't uphold his part of the bargain.

Well, Raven now knew that it wasn't an it but a she. Absently, she noted the influx of earth magic flooding into her physical shell. Emrys noted it as well with amusement. Raven wasn't quite as pleased. She did get a name, Minuet. They continued on once they were done.

The divide between Minuet and Beast Boy was guarded by a dragon. It was a sinuous drake, with two pairs of wings that segmented the serpent neatly into three. The beast growled at them before allowing them passage. As they passed through the changeling's mindscape, Raven noted the quiet and a sinking feeling made itself known at her stomach. Then, before her mind could dwell on that tidbit, the dragon roared, expelling the lot of them.

When Raven opened her eyes, she trained them front and center, expecting to see a certain green animorph. She was instead met with a nude, female teen.

Minuet.

(1) I have nothing against blonds. Honestly.

(2) So I'm getting a little perverted in my humor. Sue me. (please don't sue me)

(3) Okay, so I'm getting a lot perverted. I'm growing boy, damn it.

(4) Sadly, I would so do that if I know I won't get killed by them.

**End Chapter. **

Author's End Note: like I said, review!


	8. Chapter 7

Author's Preamble: My brother, being my brother, had decided to make some sort of blog thing for his music and sound addiction. Hopefully chatting to like minded individuals will show him he's not alone. If you're interested (and you know you are...) go here www.tomorrowafterthewar. .

Author's Note: Bah, this chapter was a headache and a half. Really, I had to take out multiple versions of this before i was satisfied. This is like, version 2.3 something. Hope I haven't lost my touch... was i ever in touch? oh well, enjoy. huh, i'm progressively getting lazier... oh, almost forgot to mention the fact that this may be the last you'll see of me in a while on this fic. apparently, i got high off fumes and decided to join the marines. i'm shippin' out to boot camp on the fifteenth of oct. yay me!

Began: 7/17/2007

Finished: 9/25/2007

**Chapter the Seventh: An Engaging Day**

Jade Chan had finally escaped from her erstwhile partner (was partner the right word for their association?). She could hardly be blamed; the guy was infuriating in his pacifistic tendencies. It was impossible to do just about anything without one of his lectures. She'd had to do cartwheels and bend over backward with words just to have him stay out of her way. So Jade was happy to have him out of her hair and walking down the streets of Jump City.

She had had to promise not to hurt a fly before the peace loving nut would let her out of her own hotel room (not that she had a problem with peace, but that guy really pushed it above and beyond). She'd been the one to pay for their rooms and he had the audacity to bar her way! She itched to rip his head off, but her superiors would frown at that. Besides which, Wintergreen (the bastard had a butler) would have never allowed for such actions.

Sighing, Jade cast her awareness out into the world to once again seek the ones who could help her wrap up this damnable assignment. Finding what she needed, she muttered quietly to herself and started moving, her chocolate brown, almond shaped eyes trained on nothing as she continued to seek the only aid made available to her.

-i-

Terra stared tiredly at Emrys, trying desperately to take in what he was saying but failing spectacularly. Already the sleepless night taxed her body, desperately demanding repose. She refused, remembering the phantoms that haunted her rest.

She'd had trouble sleeping already as t'were. Nats had not been pleased to learn of her super-heroic/villainess origins, the Titan Terra had not been remembered too fondly for her last few escapades. Natalie had lost her brother to a certain maniac's hostile takeover a few years back. Things had gone sour for the civilian and she'd sunk into a depression. She'd finally started picking up the pieces in befriending 'Serra' and now it turns out that her new friend had a hand in her brother's death.

Though this had kept the blonde awake for a while, it didn't stop her from falling into a fitful sleep. However, the nightmare she had had woke her screaming and jumping at her own shadow.

She didn't get any sleep after that.

"Terra!"

She snapped to attention, eyes blinking rapidly as they uncertainly registered the room once more. Kel was off to the side, eyeing her warily. The girl with the mismatched eyes did not like her, not in the least. Emrys was staring at her, caught between yelling at her for not paying attention (he had been teaching her some very important magical basics) and asking her what was on her mind (she was distracted and he was curious).

Keltaek turned away, the unease not leaving her once. She couldn't explain this irrational distrust in the newly acquired novice. It wasn't just the story of her as a backstabbing Titan; she hadn't trusted her before even learning about that piece of history. Something about the blonde had her instantly on alert and Kel was left to flounder as to why. Every nerve was on end, every synapse in her brain was trained on the other geomancer's every action, looking for ulterior motives.

Groaning softly to herself, she turned to the front of the store, silently leaving the room with every instinct inside berating her for exposing her back.

She traversed the portal only to find herself in between the rooms to the shop. Here all doors to the shop were open. From here, every portal to every room to the store was accessible to those with the eyes to see them and the hands to open them. The rows of doors were infinite, stretching into eternity with portals that neither Kel nor Emrys had yet to open and pass. Past, present and future were here and doors that should not yet exist or no longer do can be accessed here. Time had no place and without such a reference, Kel was rather disoriented.

'Feeling' the place out, she searched the shop for Cavall. Finding the were-like construct she 'opened' the portal and 'walked' in disoriented. She wasn't very good at the whole walking dimensions thing. Shaking her head to rid herself of the slight migraine that she always had when doing these 'jumps', the girl/woman sought out the construct.

Cavall dozed within the labyrinthine walls of the Inner Library, simmering in a light meditative trance. Its awareness brushed softly against the inked leaves on the shelves, slowly absorbing the knowledge writ there idly, bored. The library was vast, its reading not even having taken a dent of its mammoth mass. But still, Cavall grew tired of people phrasing and rephrasing the same thing over and over again. It idly considered lulling itself to a pseudo sleep and greatly mourned the loss of sleeping, of- dreaming.

"Yo, paperboy." A frowned marred its papery features, annoyed at being disturbed. "Pack it in and look lively, whitey. We've places to go today."

Its paper eyes unfurled, the body behind it unwinding from its supine position. Raising itself onto its hind legs, it shifted into the androgynous preset form it had chosen. Looking down the hall of shelves with a peeved expression on its face, Cavall took off toward Kel, muttering under its breath.

Kel waited, impatient for Cavall's arrival. She knew the being would be irritated, but she couldn't help herself, she loved bugging the sentinel, ruffling its paper was fun.

A riotous fury of paper stormed before her, resolving into something humanoid. Cavall had arrived.

"What places? Furthermore, what right do you have to order me around anyhow? I'm a magical construct, I'll have you know, and I will be treated courteously!" snapped Cavall. A pointed glare speared Kel, but she didn't look affected at all. As a matter of fact, she had an amused look on her face. Sauntering up to the white construct, she patted his cheek condescendingly. Then she took a piece of paper out. Cavall froze as he read the contents.

"Cavall, Cavall, Cavall," sighed the sorceress, mock disappointment coloring her tone. "I expected better from you. After all, you should know better than anyone that the shop doesn't generate that sort of revenue." Cavall gulped, apprehension making its home at the pit of- well, somewhere on the construct. Kel circled behind it, the receipt still firmly grasped in hand. Leaning toward a white pointed ear, she whispered, "We don't want Em to know about this little," she trailed off, "indiscretion of your'n, do we, Cavall?"

Cavall missed having teeth, it was really hard to grind paper and feel the not quite satisfying but nonetheless there for you pain. Finally, he snapped.

"Oh alright; where do you want to go!?"

Kel returned to center stage before the riled being, all sunshine and daisies and smiling happily.

"Titans' Tower, I have to check up on my little project."

"'Little project'?" asked Cavall, slightly confused. Then it remembered the three-in-one. "Oh, that kid." The humanoid frowned. "What do you want with them?"

Kel rolled her eyes. "I don't want anything from them; I just want some things for them. After all, I did pay quite a hefty price for the lot, it'd behoove me to take an interest in my own investment, would you not agree?" demanded the mage haughtily, flicking a lock of hair behind her with an assured swing of her head. Cavall stared, the gears in its head turning smoothly like a carefully up-kept dynamo.

"What worries you, Kel?" its eyes narrowing, Cavall watched its mage mistress, looking for any sign to give away her worries. It was already aware of her distaste toward the other geomancer under their roof, so that wasn't it. Something that bothered her even more than _that_ girl was worrying indeed.

"You know how troubling Shades are, don't you?" Kel spoke reluctantly. When her audience nodded in the affirmative, she plowed on. "Well, they, as you know, are beings that are neither living nor dead. They are, in fact, practically immortal. Without true substance, a shadow, a reflection, right?" Another nod. Kel began to pace. "Be that as it may, these shadows are beings of power and the presence of one in this world, in active dormancy no less, is worrying. Theirs is a power that we don't shake a stick at." Cavall grunted in agreement. "Well, the green one's magic, the life mana, is destabilizing- unpredictable even. Some have even speculated that chaos magic was more predictable in comparison."

"Wait, life magic is dependable," interrupted Cavall, a confused air about it as it scratched its head.

"Yes," agreed Kel as she stopped her pacing, parking herself right in front of the facsimile human, "unless you miss it up with magic of another alignment. Say, dark and earth?" remarked the mage, deadpan in her sarcasm.

"Oh…" Cavall couldn't argue with that one. After all, its existence was practically a byproduct of said phenomenon. It wasn't about to start questioning that. But if he came into existence from such a mix of power, then what would come from something with a Shade's power to back the collision? It was one experiment that Cavall had no interest in seeing the outcome of. Cavall was a power to be reckoned with, and its life had started off from the lowly life of a hunting hound with a dollop of magic in its veins (earth aligned if you must know). The mutation of something like a Shade would be drastic; to say anything less would be the epitome of stupidity.

"So, we'll be paying the Titans a visit and you'll accompany me unless you want Emmy to know about your- splurge." With that she headed toward the door once more, frowning belligerently at it. She hated the feeling of being everywhere and nowhere. It was, to put it simply, nauseating. There was a way to skip the interlude but that called for a pretty penny when it came to mana. She glared at the portal, hoping that her gaze would put the thing into place.

In terms of magic, she wasn't supposed to be able to feel any such sensation. The spell was designed with that in mind. However, Kel was much more sensitive to such things. As a matter of fact, she seemed a little above average on just about everything. Emrys had commented on it as well and at first it was kind of cool. Now it was kind of depressing. Nothing sort of works out the way it was supposed to. She couldn't very well hide from it either, that took work. Now spells weren't having the right affect on her because she was more perceptive than average and it was rather frustrating.

Growling, she finally decided the expenditure would be wholly worth it and made her way through.

She sighed as she closed the door leading to the front of the shop. Finding Cora and Ceres there (she still hasn't quite forgiven either of them for their involvement in her misadventures) she glared at them (they ignored it) before turning to the front of the shop. She blinked at the door. Someone was tracking her. She was so surprised that she froze, gaping in shock. She'd just gotten herself out of one mess (hey, it had only been a day after she took care of the Raaja) and now someone was hunting her? It was a little on the 'much' side of things.

However, her freezing had inadvertently doomed her, she had been unable to shield herself, masking her presence, and had thus been found. She articulated her immense displeasure silently with a glare and an internal tirade. The bell jangled, announcing the hunter to the cornered prey.

Warm brown eyes stared intently, satisfied as they met with mismatched hazel and silver. Kel groaned, her left hand going up for a preemptive massage against the headache that she was sure was coming. She sighed and looked toward the person she hoped to pass off as a customer.

"Welcome to Keltaek's Knick Knacks and Other Krum!" exclaimed Kel delightedly, a fake smile pasted onto her features and hands clasped beneath her chin cutely (she hoped, she kind of had trouble pulling that look off). "Store clerks Cora and Ceres will be happy to lend a hand or four to help make your shopping experience one to be remembered," she declared, hands landing on either twins' shoulder. They looked to their mistress in surprise. "I'll be in the back, so long, and have a happy shopping experience, buh-bye!"

With that she turned to make her escape.

-ii-

A seemingly innocuous dressing room door in the middle of the Jump City Mall™ cracked open to reveal murky brown eyes peering cautiously into the waiting room area. Feet shuffled nervously behind the once again sealed portal as they kicked themselves into well worn sneakers. Again the door opened and another surveillance of the waiting room took place. Good; still empty.

Cautiously, the grey swathed girl made her way out, leaving the atrocities that a certain redheaded alien had tried to get her in. jamming her hands into the pockets of the baggy jeans she 'borrowed' from Gar (no, it was Beast Boy now), she tried to move as inconspicuously as she could. Of course, raising the hood on the 'TOFU ROX!' jacket and ducking her head had drawn more attention than not. Still with no Starfire in sight, it was fine with her.

Minuet tugged nervously at brown locks under the cowl of her jacket (his jacket). She wasn't sure if this Starfire had been trying to distract her or really wanted her in those pink- things… she hoped it wasn't both. One or the other is fine, but both would be too much. Her fingers continued to pick at her own locks before they came upon something smooth to the touch and it wasn't hair. Tugging curiously at the mysterious thing, she plucked the leaf from her scalp.

A curbed yelp hissed through her lips. She'd forgotten how strange her magic had become, transforming her head into a miniature garden. Random plant-life had taken to appearing on her head and only with supreme effort was she able to hide the green under her skin. Worrying her lip as she worried at her own magic, she continued to make her way to the exit.

Finding herself on the congested streets of Jump City, she looked every which way, her eyes watering at the smog that had been so foreign in her life. She'd nearly choked on the air when she first encountered it and was still getting used to the slightly toxic atmosphere. Hurriedly, she pushed herself forward, away from the mall and hopefully toward Titans' Tower. Finding _his_ lingering presence once more, she took off towards it, trying desperately not to think about the boy's body she was shamelessly using. Guilt gnawed at her mercilessly- cramping her abdominals, pounding on her head and weighing down her limbs. She struggled to keep from feeling inferior, to not sink into a depression- but the guilt, oh it was relentless.

She'd tried to distract herself by going to the mall. When she announced her consent, Raven had looked at her oddly. Robin, the leader, had only grunted, muttering about public liaisons. Cyborg had used the PA to announce his blasé "cool". Robin threw a fit, Raven rolled her eyes and Minuet jumped, still not quite used to modern conveniences. Starfire had chirpily dragged her into the air, zipping across the water so quickly that they hardly registered on the human eye. Minuet was stuck with wearing the loose breeches (jeans they called them), worn out black and white sneakers and the faded purple shirt with the hooded jacket over it.

Her mind raced back to the present as she made her way through an alley. She watched as somebody in front of her was harassed. She took in the scene bemused as the tall bulky white haired balding fellow was pushed around by pint sized (in comparison anyway) twerps. She couldn't quite grasp it, the guy was huge! His arms were as thick as her torso for crying out loud!

So, she kept her nose out of it and just watched. And what she saw didn't please her. The tanned giant just stood there, trying to appease the thugs pushing him around. A frown marred her face. With all that power, if he let loose he might knock them silly. But then the cowards drew pocket knives and Minuet decided right then that she'd seen enough.

Silently, she rushed forward, balanced neatly on her toes. With an extra forceful step she lunged at the closest thug to her, the punk (shit, they were much taller up close!) on the right of the giant, and belted him one neatly in his solar plexus, knocking the wind right out of him. Turning to the remaining three, she snarled as she flipped over the slightly bewildered man she was saving to get to the rest of them.

The aches in her body screamed, but she paid them no mind, forcing them into the recesses of her awareness for a later date. Darting in, she swept the next thug lined up off his feet before pile driving her elbow into his torso, taking him out of commission. The last two began to close in on her, but they moved so slowly, like they were swimming through molasses. She took a stand, feet at shoulder width, body twisting to follow the palm that would strike. She felt her breath entering her attack, she couldn't quite explain the sensation, but she knew it was true. Adjusting her trajectory, she dodged the knife and palmed him in the chest. In one fluid motion she took care of the last thug, but not physically.

It happened before she was even aware of her hand going anywhere near the cowl of her jacket. Suddenly, the hood was off and she was tugging a switch of bramble off her head, cutting her fingers indelicately on the prickling thorns. With a breathless invocation, she'd sent the plant matter flying toward the last punk's feet where a gardening miracle took place.

The switch had quickly taken root in the asphalt and began climbing over its prisoner. The growth was explosive, quickly springing to over five feet in height in a matter of moments. The thug screamed more in terror than in pain as thorns began to prick him mercilessly. The other three ran after that display of meta-ability, the one lagging behind pulling at his waistband as he tried to keep from tripping, not to mention his dignity.

Minuet stood erect, a defiant look in her eye and ready for more. When the last bugger was gone around the bend she finally fell to her knees, breath labored. The last remaining thug moaned, droplets of blood tracing paths to the earth.

"Are you alright, girl?" the giant of a man moved over to her side, worriedly eyeing her, his hands hovering about her nervously.

"I'm fine," wheezed the brunette, eyeing her hair, or more specifically, the sudden addition of greens to her hair. Tentatively she poked and errant root, focusing her magic on the thing.

She jumped when a voice of darkness whispered in her mind's ear, telling her of the properties of said root. Magical or mundane, no secret of the plant was lost to her. Her attention turned to the rose bush before her, and again the knowledge scrolled itself into her mind. From hip to petal, she knew everything and anything to know about roses.

"You sure about that," he half asked half stated.

"Yes," she replied curtly, a glare to her eyes. Her wind apparently caught, she rose unsteadily to her feet. She paused to catch her breath again, clearly not ready for any type of exertion. She stumbled toward the wall closest to her, leaning against it for support.

"Uh-huh," the skepticism could not be ignored and Min growled belligerently, still huffing and puffing. With a sigh on his breath, the giant moved over to her and picked her up daintily.

A surprised squawk protested this situation but no further resistance was forthcoming. She was aching too much to do anything else except enjoy the warmth of being cradled. She was half asleep when the deep rumbling of his voice cut through the haze.

"The name's Bowman Lerosong," his voice as soothing as lava-lamps, soft glow and embracing warmth. "And yours? I don't like bringing complete strangers into my home." There was a hint of a demand to his voice.

"Minuet."

"Well met, Minuet," whispered the giant, "well met indeed." With that he lumbered off only stopping to whisper a command to the briar.

Two minutes later, the last thug was released. He high tailed it out of there, the lacerations on him not hindering his mobility in the least. He and his 'friends' never spoke of the chick that handed their collective asses to them that day- ever.

-iii-

Beast Boy was a bit of a mystery and that was acceptable, expected even. The fact that the team apparently knew less about the changeling than Raven herself, well…

That was not acceptable.

They'd been so easily bought, fooled by the shape shifter. They hardly knew anything about him. They'd barely learned of his career with the Doom Patrol and that had been granted by chance alone.

They hadn't heard any tales of Africa. He never spoke of his parents, presumably dead. They didn't know when he met the Patrol. For the most part, they weren't sure why he was green and morph capable.

It wasn't like they hadn't tried, they did. They tried to learn more about him from the source himself. But he had chattered on inanely, leaving no real opportunities to broach the subject. It had been an unspoken rule to never ask directly about anyone's past. But whenever the conversation was being steered in that direction, he would have a severe case of ADD. Either that or turn the conversation on the others.

They've all tried: Raven would huff away in annoyance muttering about green morons (the other time she tried she'd ended up spilling her guts about her estranged relationship with her mother- she never tried again), Cyborg and Starfire would look on with a slightly amused twinkle in their eyes (Beast Boy also knew exactly who it was that helped develop the cybernetics keeping his best friend alive and knew of Star's younger brother) and Robin sort of blinked, blindsided by the sudden egress (Robin was the only one that Beast Boy refused to wrangle with).

They should have noticed they berated themselves; they hadn't, didn't.

That's not to say that they knew absolutely nothing about him. Beast Boy was good, but he lived in a household of very stubborn people which some people (mostly villains) would call busybodies.

Robin, being Robin, tracked down every story about green animals that he could find which led to interesting articles about Sakutia and a pair of researching geneticists that had passed away. Interesting enough, there was a slight mention of a little boy, conspicuously named Garfield Logan.

From there, he tracked the tale of Galtry and Robin's frown grew ever more pronounced as he read. Then Beast Boy kind of disappeared only to reappear with the D.P.

The boy wonder typed up what he knew and put it on file, just in case. He'd learned much, but it wasn't the same as having it from the horse's mouth. He could make educated conjectures, but ultimately they were speculations without confirmation.

Cyborg had clearance to many networks in STAR labs and had actually aided Robin in his own research. The two boys had decided in the end that when the green bean was ready, he'd talk to them about what they'd learned. They also decided against disclosing any of what they learned to Starfire and Raven. However, the boys being who they were, they underestimated the full might of magic.

Raven was no detective, but she was an empath and the sorceress supreme of the Titans. She had known when they'd gone behind Beast Boy's back and done a background on him. Everyone had to undergo a background in the Titans; some were just more cooperative than others. Raven had been quite annoyed when Robin decided she wasn't exempt. She still hadn't quite forgiven him for putting her file on the roster, after all, if Beast Boy could hack his way in, what the hell kind of protections did they have?

So, after that little debacle with her birthday, Raven had decided that turnabout was fair play- an eye for an eye, if you will. However, even though she was the mistress of magic and could use a computer, no one would mistake her for a hacker.

Ah, the wonders of magic.

With a few well placed words, she practically ordered the files on screen. She hesitated, knowing very well that she was on the brink of becoming a hypocrite. With but a word she could bare her comrade's history before her eyes. Pru made war with Quizzy, a battle between earthy brown and blinding yellow thrummed through her head. Finally, the bright flame was stifled and cool serenity urged her to step back.

As much as she wanted to, Beast Boy had always respected her privacy in certain circumstances. Her past was privy only to her and he had never pried (her spilling her guts was her own doing, and 'sides that, he'd been there to offer her comfort, lousy little…). He may not understand the meaning of personal space, but he left the past where it belonged- behind him.

So, reluctantly, she closed the systems, dismissed the files and set up mystical protections around the mainframe. She'll learn this properly- from the source itself. Until then, she'd wait.

Too bad Starfire lost the only connection they had to Beast Boy at the moment.

-iv-

Earl Warrington manned the security hub of the JCM™ with only half of his attention on the screens. He was rather advanced in years and he expected to have his employers sack him anytime now. He likes to think that they haven't fired him because he was venerable, but the truth of the matter probably had something to do with the stink it'd send up. Earl couldn't exactly walk up to them and say 'I quit' (he could actually), he wanted to leave without the whole drawn out song and dance (oh).

So rather desperately, Earl tried to get an attitude problem. However, with over thirty years of sittin' on his arse, manning the same station from nine to whenever with patrols sprinkled in, his position was pretty set. Lousy management, shouldn't they have fired his ass already? He was supposed to retire.

Grumbling quietly to himself he heaved himself up on his tired legs, ready to go for another patrol. That's when the door opened- with a bang.

He nearly had a heart attack and his mouth started moving on instinct along with his hands. He was a veteran and cursing like one under his breath as he reached for his gun, fumbling only slightly. Then a face that was familiar to every resident of Jump came into view and Earl thought he had indeed had a heart attack, died and gone to heaven.

"Please kind sir," screamed a frantic Starfire, "I require the viewing of your audio and video recording monitors! I am searching for a misplaced friend."

Earl tried to keep up with the panicking alien. After he made sure she wasn't an angel here to deliver him to the judge (he was quite sure angels wouldn't need his help in any matters), his old cogs creaked into motion to go over what protocol demanded in a situation like this.

As a Titan, Starfire was allowed to commandeer just about anything if she fancied it. It was one of the perks to being a Titan. Their authority far supersedes anything Earl had. But perhaps he could use this situation to advantage. He may be wizened but he was still sharp as a tack.

"Alright, s'all yours," he began slowly, trying to make a bargain with someone who could splat you with nary a thought would make anyone nervous. "But I'll help you out if you do something for me."

Starfire blinked. She needed all the assistance that she could get. Robin would be so disappointed in her if she were to lose their new acquaintance so soon. However, she was wary about agreeing to just anything. More information needs be forthcoming.

"Please, how exactly would I be assisting you?"

"Well…" and off Earl went to expound upon his situation. It was rather embarrassing, but better it be her than him.

Starfire frowned.

"You desire that I tell your superiors a 'white' untruth about you so that they would relieve you of your post?"

"That about sums it up, yeah," replied Earl with a nod of agreement. "So, what do you say?"

"Well, as long as the deed would harm no one…"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, toots," toots, he couldn't believed he actually said toots. He was getting old… "No one's gonna be a hurtin' and everyone's happy. C'mon, I'm beggin' here."

"Very well," she answered in a moment. She closed her eyes, rationalizing her course of action to herself. It was for the best.

"Alrighty then," declared the aged guard. He sat himself before the main counsel, through which he could access all of the records. Keeping up with the newfangled stuff those tech guys kept pushing out was going to pay off apparently. Drawing up the recordings, he began asking questions. The pair of them finally found their target and watched as she made her way to the western exit.

"The Tower!" declared the redhead. "She must have been making her way back towards Titans Tower!"

Halfway to the exit she turned around to address Earl. She bowed hurriedly.

"Thank you for your assistance kind friend, I will be sure to speak with your supervisor."

Earl sighed, leaning against the back of his chair. In a minute he'd be makin' his rounds. But for a moment, he'd relish the fact that an old man like him had the opportunity to talk to a Titan. Being a softie had its perks; he wouldn't have to initiate a confrontation, he met one of the heroes of the city and offered her assistance. Life was good.

**Chapter End**

Author's Closing Note: Um, seriously, i'm going to boot camp despite the blase nature of my note. Here's to hopin' i survive! yeehah! Oh, don't forget to review. And yes, not much happens, but I find it only fair- everyone else is doing it.


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